Entertainment industry urges employers to fight staff piracy

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and the International Federation of the Phonographic industry (IFPI), have jointly published a brochure laying out measures to prevent copyright infringement on business IT infrastructures, suggesting corporate policies and even including a sample memo instructing employees against piracy.

According to the industry, the Corporate Policy Guide to Copyright Use and Security on the Internet will be distributed to Fortune 1000 corporations in the US, and to all major European companies.

The guide warns businesses that unauthorised copying of music and other copyright material is "illegal" and can "tarnish corporate reputations, increase security risks for computer systems and put organisations at risk of legal prosecution."

The guide specifically lists the risks illegal downloads pose to companies, including infection by viruses, trojan horses and "other destructive elements," spyware, exposing proprietary or confidential information to third parties, and bandwidth and resource hogs.

It also lists the legal risks, such as injunctions, damages, costs and possible criminal sanctions "against your organisation or its directors", and reminds corporations that copyright owners "regularly take legal action against organisations that violate copyright on their computers."

The brochure advises businesses to set copyright policies, conduct audits on their systems for certain types of copyrighted material, delete unauthorised copies and designate a copyright compliance officer.

Finally, the industry reminds corporations of the case of Arizona-based Integrated Information Systems, which paid $1 million in a settlement after employees were found accessing and distributing music files on the company server, in April 2002.

The guide has been issued at a time when the industry is involved in a legal dispute with Verizon Communications, which was ordered by a federal judge in January to reveal the identity of a subscriber suspected of offering hundreds of songs for download.

Verizon has appealed the ruling, and the court agreed not to enforce the order while Verizon's request for a stay pending the appeal is being considered.

The guide is available as an 8-page pdf here