The Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA) is ramping up for another salvo in the crusade to educate the file-sharing masses. CRIA President Brian Robertson categorizes it as "the second phase of our education program with Canadian users of file-sharing services". The CRIA is a non-profit trade organization founded in 1964 to represent Canadian companies that create, manufacture and market sound recordings. CRIA's membership includes major record companies, leading independent labels, and all manufacturers of compact discs and tapes. They represent 95% of the sound recordings that are manufactured and sold in Canada.
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CRIA is utilizing the Instant Messaging (IM) function of the peer-to-peer (P2P) networks to communicate its message to individuals who appear to be distributing copyrighted music without authorization from the rights owners. This function is accessible by everyone who uses these services. "The unauthorized file-sharing of copyrighted music hurts artists, songwriters and everyone involved in the creation and production of music", continued Robertson. "It is estimated that Internet file-sharing has doubled in volume in the last year to over one billion files at any one time. The resulting retail sales losses have exceeded $ 250 million in Canada alone in the last three years". |
The Record industry associations in Australia, Denmark and Germany are going to join the CRIA in this initiative and will launch Instant Messaging programs in their own countries.
Source: mi2n.com
