Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live Today

Music Industry Battling Internet Piracy

Aired April 29, 2002 - 13:57   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: CNN's Richard Quest now reports the recording industry's attempt to try and squelch music piracy on the Internet by cracking down on Napster to this point apparently is a flop. Here is Richard Quest in London.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Music for nothing, your tunes for free. If the recording industry had hoped shutting down Napster would put an end to downloading of copyright music, they were wrong.

Piracy, according to the industry, is still going on and is growing. There's a new breed of Napsters called pair to pair. It's one of the factors that's costing the industry millions. Sales were down five percent last year and that loss is likely to grow.

JOLLYON BENN, INTERNET INVESTIGATIONS EXECUTIVE: Each one of these programs has in excess of a million people using it at any time. And I think that's why it is a bigger problem for not just the music industry, but all international property owners that it was when Napster was around.

QUEST: What's making this a great deal worse is that today, using these new Napster want-to-be sites is becoming easier and easier. You don't have to be a computer geek to squeeze music out of the well.

(on camera): Napster may be all but dead, but there are still plenty of opportunities for downloading music from the Web absolutely free. One of the newest kids on the block is Morpheus. Let's put it to the test. How long it is going to take me to find, download and then listen to Kylie? First, the search.

STEVE GRIFFIN, MORPHEUS: If we move forward, it will become ubiquitous like the telephone. And there will be someone sitting before this camera 20 years from now and they will say remember that streamcast company? They were doing peer to peer. It's now as ubiquitous as the telephone. It was the greatest thing for the entertainment and media companies, but they didn't like it either. And so we look forward to that.

QUEST: Back at my computer, the downloading has begun. The record companies aren't giving up then. Having taken out Napster, they intend to try to attack these latest upstarts, to destroy whatever legal loopholes they've discovered to stay in business.

JAY BERMAN, CHAIRMAN, IFP: They are all a problem. And for the most part, legally, we have been able to deal with those problems and we will continue to do. We have been very successful in forcing our legal rights against unauthorized sites and we are going to continue to do that. We are not going to rest.

QUEST (on camera): It's taken six minutes to find, download, and now begin playing Kylie. Sitting at home, that seemed like an eternity, but the fact is, we are now playing one of the leading pieces of music, without paying a penny.

(voice-over): No wonder the industry is doing what it can to stop this violation. Of course, because it's so easy, it will probably mean they'll fail.

Richard Quest, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com