Watchdog warns students over swapping music files

PUPILS who plan to while away the school holidays swapping songs over the internet could get a lesson in the law following a warning that music rights watchdogs will have their eye on them.

IRMA, the Irish Recorded Music Industry Association, is monitoring internet activity for illegal file exchanges, and says it will pursue individuals who cost performers a fortune in legitimate record sales.

Association boss, Dick Doyle, said there were noticeable surge and slowdowns in illegal activity, and the summer season was prime time for idle browsers.

“We were able to see a slump every time we sued someone, but after a few months it always went back up again, and in the evenings and other times when people aren’t so busy it always surges,” he said.

“With the summer vacation and kids having more time at home, I would hope parents would be more vigilant and make sure their teenagers are not involved in illegal activity.”

Some 20 billion illegal music files are in circulation on the internet, dwarfing the one billion legitimately released recordings, and making tracking exchanges a mammoth task.

IRMA is currently involved in what could be a ground-breaking court case for the recording industry internationally after it challenged Eircom, the country’s top internet service provider, to introduce filtering software that would automatically detect and prevent attempts to illegally move music.

A fortnight has been set aside to hear the case in November with the court in the meantime ordering the appointment of experts by both sides to demonstrate why IRMA’s proposal would or would not work.

“It’s a big international story at the moment because even to get to this stage is a breakthrough. Rather than just accepting that illegal file swapping is unstoppable, we’ve decided to go for the core of the problem,” said Mr Doyle.

“The internet service providers are the gatekeepers, and we believe it is possible for them to shut the gate on this type of activity.”

IRMA last year succeeded in getting the courts to order six internet providers to hand over the names and addresses of 23 subscribers involved in large-scale file swapping.

Proceedings were commenced against about a dozen who were still in the country, and financial settlements, running to several thousand euro a time, are outstanding against just two. Such actions are costly and time-consuming, which is why the industry is now targeting the internet companies, but Mr Doyle said the usual clampdowns would continue.

“We haven’t stopped our searching for individuals even though we’re going after the internet service providers,” he said. The reason was to ensure the survival of up and coming bands.

“The average annual income an artist early on in their career is €10-12,000. They work in bars and waiting tables to survive, and if they lose the bit they make from record sales, it’s impossible.”