Music industry eases tactics in fighting piracy

By Antony Bruno

DENVER (Billboard) - The Recording Industry Association of America's decision not to pursue new lawsuits against online file-sharers marks a fundamental shift in the music business's battle against piracy, from one focused on enforcement to one emphasizing education.

But as it makes this tactical adjustment, the industry and its representative trade group face new challenges. It will have to drop the largely go-it-alone nature of its recent court battles in favor of a more cooperative approach that will require the participation of cable companies, telecommunications carriers and even public officials and legislators.

The RIAA said it has secured the agreement of Internet service providers to participate in a "graduated response" strategy, under which ISPs would send warnings to infringing users to stop their activity or risk losing Internet access. That, in turn, could open the door to additional collaboration with ISPs, such as imposing surcharges on monthly broadband accounts to cover the cost of a blanket music license, something Warner Music Group began exploring last year.

Although the graduated-response strategy developed independently from the surcharge idea, the two run on a parallel track, RIAA general counsel Steve Marks said.

"Any time you have companies working together on one issue cooperatively, it probably sets a good framework to work together on other things," he said.

Marks said the ISP plan was modeled after the RIAA's antipiracy initiatives at U.S. universities. Under that template, the RIAA worked with partner MediaSentry to flag the accounts of peer-to-peer (P2P) network users who were uploading tracks for others to share. It then sends the universities the account information of each infringer and asks the institution to warn the offending students to stop or face disconnection. In most cases, disconnected students can regain their Internet access after paying a fine, and various appeals processes are set up to settle disputes.

TOUGH NEGOTIATIONS

Enlisting the ISPs as allies, however, hasn't been an easy task. The RIAA claims it has secured the cooperation of leading ISPs in its graduated-response efforts, but Marks would not disclose which are onboard. Verizon, the second-largest U.S. telecom carrier, has said it is not participating at this time.