Music piracy boss moves to movies

Michael Kerin today confirmed reports he was leaving Music Industry Piracy Investigations (MIPI) to take on the post of director of operations of the Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft (AFACT).

Kerin, who joined MIPI on 23 May this year, told ZDNet Australia he had "had his notice in for a while" and would leave the unit on Friday 28 October. He is due to start with AFACT the following Monday, replacing the incumbent, Neil Gane, who has taken a senior position within the movie industry in Singapore.

He said his review of MIPI's operations was still under consideration by the organisation's board.

"MIPI needs to capitalise on its success in the courts" through educational initiatives such as speaking at conferences, giving talks in schools and establishing a Web site, Kerin said.

With the runs on the board in civil cases such as that run over the Kazaa file-sharing software, MIPI should "look to ramp up its criminal prosecutions" to help bring about behavioural change in music piracy, he said.

He said the wider availability and booming takeup of broadband Internet services in Australia meant the threat to copyright posed by illegal downloading of movies was assuming greater proportions.