Hilary is on her way out, everyone and their mother says drastic change is in the offing, but industry officials say they are going to keep alienating everyone who can possibly help them:
- Music industry officials on both sides of the Atlantic on Friday vowed to keep up the fight against online music swapping, piling pressure on Internet service providers (ISPs) to police their networks.
The issue of whether Internet and technology companies should be compelled to assist the major music labels in the fight against piracy, which is blamed for slumping CD sales, was headline news this week at the music industry's annual confab in the French resort town of Cannes.
At the conference, Internet executives reacted sharply to comments made by Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) Chief Executive Hilary Rosen who said ISPs should be held more accountable in monitoring illicit song-trading.
On Friday, Rosen told Reuters the RIAA would continue to work with lawmakers and the industry to root out song traders.
She said the trade body has no plans to develop compulsory licensing arrangements or impose fees on ISPs to recoup sales lost to file-trading. "That would be a dramatic departure (from the RIAA's strategy)," she said.
The Euro-labels are making friends as well:
- In Europe, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), a global trade organization, has been waging a war of its own, battling to push forward the Copyright Directive, EU legislation that has stalled at the state level.
If passed, the Copyright Directive would require Internet service providers to play a more vigilant role in the protection of copyright-protected materials. The ISPs have challenged the directive on ground that it puts them in the costly role of having to police their customers.
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