Sunday, June 28, 2015

Response to LA Times "Stealing Music" story.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-et-ct-state-of-stealing-music-20150620-story.html#vf-2285900001610

Once again IFPI/Music Watch acts like the number of ppl who use sites "offering copyright infringing music" is a one-for-one indicator of the problem.  It ignores the songs that have been already downloaded and continue to be used.  The Digital Content Exchange properly terms this The Counterfeit Problem.  There are probably thousands of counterfeits per user since mp3s have been around for almost 20 years now.  Yes, the DCE has had conversations with the IFPI and they dont get it ... or choose not to get it. So they keep carping about interdicting "sites offering copyright infringing music" which is seldom a solution but always a threat to the Internet.  Yet they won't use their position as umbrella to the worldwide recording industry to do anything cooperatively about counterfeits that would help increase the value of music without any takedown requests or heavy-handed moves.