Music industry to sue individuals for internet piracy

The major recording companies are alarmed by the rise of internet piracy and argue that this caused a decline in CD sales of 5% worldwide last year.

The music industry has to date focused its legal efforts on free file-sharing networks, such as Napster, Morpheus and KaZaA. These have had no practical effect. Millions of internet users still download file-sharing applications that allow them to access any kind of music they want without authorisation.

According to the Wall Street Journal, industry representatives now plan to target individuals who offer large quantities of songs for downloading or who provide the directories necessary for file-sharing.

To succeed, the recording companies will have to track their copyrighted material on-line and rely on ISPs to obtain the names of users.

At the same time, US-based Listen.com announced a non-exclusive licensing agreement with Universal Music Group which means that Listen.com is the first company with authority to offer on-line the music catalogues of all five major recording companies.

However, Listen.com’s service, branded as Rhapsody, is only available to US subscribers, who must pay $10 per month. It is still unclear whether internet users are willing to pay for music for as long as there are free alternatives.