Music body spies on Napster users
The Belgian branch of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) is passing information about alleged Napster users to the police.
According to ZDNet Belgium Thursday, the IFPI wants the police to target users who it claims have been warned at least twice to stop copying music off the Internet, but are still continuing. The music group claims to possess tracking equipment capable of catching thousands of Napster users.
The IFPI has been a vocal critic of services such as Napster which allow Internet users to copy digital music from each other's computers for free. Earlier this week some of its members, such as Irish pop band The Corrs, lobbied the European Parliament to provide stronger copyright protection in law.
ZDNet Belgium reports that the IFPI would be concentrating on the most persistent Napster users. "We will target those users who have been clearly warned but persevere with the practice," said Marcel Heymans, the general director of IFPI.
Although Napster lost a crucial court case Monday, the song-swapping site hasn't closed down yet and is hoping that it may be able to continue in existance.
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