Charles Ng, Tommy Le and Peter Tran were last month charged with copyright offences by the Australian Federal Police (AFP), following an investigation assisted by Music Industry Piracy Investigations (MIPI) that lasted several months. They were charged over an Australian-based Web site, MP3 WMA land, which allegedly offered illegal downloads of copyright-protected music and received seven million visitors.
The case is alleged to be "one of the largest copyright infringement cases in Australia involving potential losses across the music industry in excess of AU$60 million", according to the AFP. The site contained links to digital recordings of several hundred commercially available music albums and individual recordings belonging to major music companies Universal Music, Sony, Warner, BMG, EMI and Festival Mushroom Records. The maximum penalties for the offences are five years jail and/or a AU$60,500 fine.
The music industry has stepped up its battle against online pirates in recent months, and is currently waiting for a verdict in the Federal Court in a case against three Australian universities, which is sure to go to appeal whatever the decision. In the US the Recording Industry Association of America has had mixed results in the courts, having settled its case against four university students but lost a summary judgement in the US Federal Court against Streamcast Networks and Grokster, owners of popular filesharing programs.
The effect of online trading in music files on the music industry is also controversial, with some reports finding the practice increases the overall amount of money filesharers spend on music. Tensions between the music industry and Internet service providers are increasing, with both sides claiming the other is using an outdated business model.
