Napster alternative won’t be available in Canada without copyright changes: CRIA

The recording industry in the United States released an alternative to the popular Napster file-sharing service last week, but the new service has been neither well-received in the popular press nor is it available to Canadians. MusicNet, which allows subscribers to access music (up to 100 new songs each month) as long as they keep paying fees, is being touted by three of the five major music labels as a viable solution to the rampant piracy encouraged by peer-to-peer networks. A MusicNet spokesperson says there’s no plan to introduce the system in Canada. Canadian recording industry executives say Canada’s copyright laws aren’t up to the task of protecting the labels’ investment in the tunes, while Internet legal expert Michael Geist says that’s just as well because the service is too restrictive to ever be popular here. MusicNet was launched Dec. 4 by Warner Music Group, BMG Entertainment, EMI Recorded Music and Zomba. The system uses RealNetworks digitally protected and secure software to download and stream music from those companies’ catalogs. The software will first be distributed by RealNetworks, AOL and Napster, and the system is available as a private-label system to other distributors on a licensing basis. But critics say the music quality may not satisfy many audiophiles since it is encoded at 64 kbps – at least half the quality of most MP3s being traded on the Internet. Further, the music can’t be burned to CD or transferred to portable MP3 players, both key attributes of digitized music, which have fuelled demand for the MP3 format. The music is available for US$9.95 a month, which gives users access to 100 streamed songs and 100 downloads. Geist tells Canadian NEW MEDIA that those restrictions could hurt the service’s popularity. "My sense is that this is not going to be a particular success because the recording industry still isn’t listening to what consumers actually want. It’s pretty clear in terms of how this is being rolled out that (the labels) are only doing so on their own terms… I think, ultimately, Canadians will make their own choice about how important this particular service is and how important the protection of fair use and other kinds of considerations are." The fact that the service won’t be introduced into Canada, a non-move observers chalk up to Canada’s more lax copyright laws, doesn’t bother Geist. While the U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act protects the technological measures that make commercial services such as MusicNet possible, Geist feels Canadians are better off with current laws even if they can’t take advantage of this alternative to Napster. "Frankly, if the music industry feels they don’t want to bring their services into Canada because of the Canadian legal system, I think in some ways users ought to give them a measure of thanks. I think that it’s illustrative and hopefully respectful of different legal principles for different countries, and if Canada doesn’t want a DMCA and feels that it can live without the recording industry’s attempt to provide consumers with digital music on their own terms, rather than on the terms that consumers are actually looking for, then so be it." For its part, the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA) says there are no plans in Canada to introduce a similar service. "We’re a little hamstrung here by the gang in Ottawa who are dragging their feet on updating the Copyright Act," CRIA president Brian Robertson tells Canadian NEW MEDIA. "There is absolutely no protection for legitimate online services. You’re dealing with an analog act trying to deal with digital issues. The U.S. upgraded its act (with the 1998 DMCA). (Canadians) are still in the dark ages as far as getting this thing updated." He says without protection against hacking the technological protections on commercially distributed music, there can be no Canadian counterpart to the U.S. labels’ services. "The bureaucrats here are just in the dark ages. No one’s willing to move forward unless you’ve got the protection."

Napster alternative won’t be available in Canada without copyright changes: CRIA

Broadcast | December 13, 2001

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Napster alternative won’t be available in Canada without copyright changes: CRIA

Broadcast | December 13, 2001

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