music_news 91 posts

The Australian parliament has passed a new law on copyright. The legislation had been revised as the government decided it was out of date.

Among other changes the law will legalize copying of CDs to MP3 players (provided it’s done for private use). As Attorney General Philip Ruddock put it: "It will legalise format shifting of materials such as music, newspapers, books, meaning that people can put their CD collection onto iPods or mp3 players".(The Age) On the other hand penalties for large scale commercial piracy will be toughened.

This law will come into effect when it receives royal approval. That is likely to happen before Christmas.

New law makes iPod use legal, The Age

A study by the Australian Institute of Criminology revealed that software and music industries couldn’t explain how they calculated piracy losses, even though this data was used for lobbying efforts and in court cases (The Australian reports).

According to The Australian, the Music Industry Piracy Investigations (MIPI) – a body responsible for “investigative and intellectual property rights enforcement related services to the Australian music industry” did not know how piracy estimates were calculated as data it collected was processed by the IFPI in London. The MIPI manager commented that: "The reason … [she] wasn't personally aware of how they are prepared is because they are compiled by the IFPI… They have a group that has been doing this for some time."

Also the report noted that often the following misleading assumption is used to... read more

What do the Australian ARIA Awards have to do with IFPI? John Kennedy, IFPI’s chairman and CEO visited Australia for the ceremony and used a chance to convey the idea of word wide censorship to the local population.

The Sydney Morning Herald cites the main points of Mr. Kennedy’s message about ultimate control of users. "What we hope is our next step is to engage ISPs in performing a role in dealing with piracy online… If ISPs refuse to co-operate, Mr Kennedy said he would take his requests up to Australian politicians. "We're saying to governments: If the ISPs aren't willing to do this on a voluntary basis, isn't this something you're prepared to regulate? … Mr Kennedy admits that the measures he has taking are "draconian", but said it was the only way to convince users to obtain their music legally."

However, does he talk about forcing people to buy music legally or does it all mean forcing people to buy music for an artificially high cartel price? Is freedom a price high enough for the labels' well-being?
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