Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
Music Piracy is Multibillion Dollar Industry
Aired May 05, 2003 - 07:43 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: I also want to talk about a multibillion dollar industry right now that's affecting the record industry. Piracy is a subject dominating the entertainment industry these days. And one possible software solution: a so-called magic bullet could prevent the downloading of music.
Our legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin, is here to talk about it, looking into this, the legalities of all of this.
Good morning to you.
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYSIS: Howdy.
HEMMER: I mentioned a multibillion dollar industry, and that's really at the heart of this right now.
TOOBIN: You know, the music business is not crying wolf at this point. CD sales are down dramatically, and everybody knows who has a computer how easy it is to download and share music. I have a -- I just got an iPod myself and I'm afraid, I know myself...
HEMMER: Being the modern man that you are.
TOOBIN: Well, it's pretty easy. It's pretty easy to share music without paying for it.
HEMMER: Yes.
TOOBIN: And this is really having an impact, and they're trying to figure out what to do.
HEMMER: One of the reasons why this came to our attention, there were four college students who have been cracked down by the government, essentially having to pay about $12,000 each, without admitting guilt, but paying $12,000 to get them off the hook for what the government says is sharing these music files. That's what brought it to our attention.
TOOBIN: They were -- they're college students, and they weren't just sharing with friends. They were running sort of networks, where lots of people could share music. But I think that case shows how difficult it is to do, because these were just college students. They weren't making any money out of it. They were just doing it basically for fun, to share with their friends.
And everybody knows that for those four college students, there are 4,000 out there... HEMMER: Sure.
TOOBIN: ... who are doing very similar things. So, the idea of suing all of your customers is not a long-term strategy...
(CROSSTALK)
HEMMER: Which brings us to the ultimate question: Is there a magic bullet? Is there technology out there that's capable and legal?
TOOBIN: Well, that's what the interesting thing that's starting to happen now, is the music industry is trying to find some software that sort of encodes with the music and disables a computer when you try to use it. That if you try to share this music without the music company's permission, your browser freezes, this file gets destroyed, other files in your computer may get destroyed.
HEMMER: In the...
TOOBIN: That's the idea.
HEMMER: And the Toobin household is really ticked off at that point.
TOOBIN: There is a little worry in the Toobin household, but there's no -- I'm hoping that they have bigger fish to fry.
HEMMER: You got it.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired May 5, 2003 - 07:43 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: I also want to talk about a multibillion dollar industry right now that's affecting the record industry. Piracy is a subject dominating the entertainment industry these days. And one possible software solution: a so-called magic bullet could prevent the downloading of music.
Our legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin, is here to talk about it, looking into this, the legalities of all of this.
Good morning to you.
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYSIS: Howdy.
HEMMER: I mentioned a multibillion dollar industry, and that's really at the heart of this right now.
TOOBIN: You know, the music business is not crying wolf at this point. CD sales are down dramatically, and everybody knows who has a computer how easy it is to download and share music. I have a -- I just got an iPod myself and I'm afraid, I know myself...
HEMMER: Being the modern man that you are.
TOOBIN: Well, it's pretty easy. It's pretty easy to share music without paying for it.
HEMMER: Yes.
TOOBIN: And this is really having an impact, and they're trying to figure out what to do.
HEMMER: One of the reasons why this came to our attention, there were four college students who have been cracked down by the government, essentially having to pay about $12,000 each, without admitting guilt, but paying $12,000 to get them off the hook for what the government says is sharing these music files. That's what brought it to our attention.
TOOBIN: They were -- they're college students, and they weren't just sharing with friends. They were running sort of networks, where lots of people could share music. But I think that case shows how difficult it is to do, because these were just college students. They weren't making any money out of it. They were just doing it basically for fun, to share with their friends.
And everybody knows that for those four college students, there are 4,000 out there... HEMMER: Sure.
TOOBIN: ... who are doing very similar things. So, the idea of suing all of your customers is not a long-term strategy...
(CROSSTALK)
HEMMER: Which brings us to the ultimate question: Is there a magic bullet? Is there technology out there that's capable and legal?
TOOBIN: Well, that's what the interesting thing that's starting to happen now, is the music industry is trying to find some software that sort of encodes with the music and disables a computer when you try to use it. That if you try to share this music without the music company's permission, your browser freezes, this file gets destroyed, other files in your computer may get destroyed.
HEMMER: In the...
TOOBIN: That's the idea.
HEMMER: And the Toobin household is really ticked off at that point.
TOOBIN: There is a little worry in the Toobin household, but there's no -- I'm hoping that they have bigger fish to fry.
HEMMER: You got it.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
