Music biz ups pressure on ISPs to tackle p2p

 

Gallery

Posted on 25 Jan 2008 at 10:34

Digital music sales rose by an estimated 40% in 2007 and now comprise 15% of the total music market, but unauthorised, p2p downloads still make up 95% of all music acquired over the Internet, according to the Digital Music Report 2008.

The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry's latest annual survey acknowledges the huge strides that the digital market has made. In 2003 income from downloads was zero; last year in the US they accounted for 30% of all music industry revenues in the US.

But the IFPI used the report not emphasise the strengths of the digital market, but to focus on its nascent campaign to force ISPs to employ some kind of filtering system to block unauthorised file sharing.

Emboldened by French president Nicolas Sarkozy's plans to force ISPs to suspend or terminate the internet connections of sharers, and by "momentum" for action in the UK, Belgium and Sweden, the IFPI plans to lobby hard for governments to take action.

"There is only one acceptable moment for ISPs to start taking responsibility for protecting content - and that moment is now," said chief executive John Kennedy. "After years of prevarication in the discussion, the French government's decision to seize the day is deeply refreshing. It shows an urgency of approach that is badly needed in every market where music is today being massively devalued by piracy."

ISPs disagree. Aside from the technical difficulties, if not impossibility, of blocking some content while letting very similar material through, there are huge costs. In the UK that could be the undoing of smaller ISPs. That is certainly the position of the Internet Service Providers Association which has condemned the music industry for its "heavy handed approach against consumers rather than engaging in constructive dialogue with the Internet industry when dealing with file sharing".

The full report and summary are available from the IFPI website.

Author: Simon Aughton