Fighting Online Music Piracy
To combat online music piracy, the AFM, the Recording Industry Association of America ("RIAA") and other concerned groups have begun a comprehensive campaign. One aspect of this campaign against online music piracy is to raise awareness and educate the public about the consequences that online music piracy has on the people who work in the music industry. To this end, we are part of a coalition that has launched a public awareness campaign to educate the public on online music piracy.
Online music piracy issues have been brought to Congress's attention by the AFM, the RIAA and other groups in the coalition. Online music piracy bills are now coming out of both chambers of Congress. Since online music piracy touches on such issues as privacy, copyright infringement, property rights and the evolution of digital media, many different Congressional committees are now addressing online music piracy.
To further counter online music piracy, the RIAA has started to issue subpoenas to the most egregious online copyright infringers. The AFM supports the RIAA's decision to pursue legal action against those who contribute to online music piracy, and we encourage Congress to enact legislation that will protect musicians' hard work against online music piracy. We know that the decision to sue music fans and consumers was a difficult one, but it was the last option available to combat online music piracy. Online music piracy deterrence is an issue that has strong bipartisan support in Congress. Many members of Congress agree with the AFM that online music piracy is no different than stealing a CD from a record store. Congress has been holding many hearings on online music piracy and there has been a flurry of activity on some of the bills before both chambers in recent weeks.
[link=http://www.afm.org/public/departments/leg_issues_05.php]Lot More[/link]