Out-Law / Your Daily Need-To-Know

Global sales of CDs are expected to fall in 2003, for the fourth consecutive year, and piracy is to blame, the music industry claims. The RIAA, the body representing all major music labels, is now urging governments to take measures against piracy, and is also warning ISPs that they will have to pay up for allowing on-line song-swapping, according to Reuters and FT.com.

Speaking at the Midem music conference in Southern France, Hilary Rosen, chairman of the RIAA, reportedly accused governments of not providing sufficient resources to support the music industry's fight against piracy.

She revealed that the RIAA is considering an attempt to impose a fee on ISPs that could be passed on to subscribers who use file-swapping services frequently. How the RIAA would enforce this ISP fee was not explained.

At the same conference, Microsoft announced new digital rights management software to prevent unauthorised copying of CDs.

The new software, called Windows Media Data Session Toolkit, will, according to Microsoft, enable the labels lay songs onto a copy-protected CD in multiple layers, allowing playback on a stereo or PC without allowing copying.

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