The Corrs sing to MEPs over online piracy
Irish pop group The Corrs played a private concert for European politicians in Strasbourg this week to persuade the European Parliament to introduce more strict online music copyright laws.
The group said that artists are concerned by the lack of legislation protecting copyrighted music on the Internet. Earlier this year, The Corrs were named as the European music industry's spokespersons by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI). The popular music group had dinner with MEPs before playing the concert for them. They also met the president of the European Parliament Nicole Fontaine.
The IFPI has campaigned for the use of encryption technologies to protect recorded music online and wants the European Parliament to introduce laws requiring individual nations to enforce more strict regulations. "This was all part of a petition on behalf of artists calling for the European Parliament to make a stand on music protection," says a IFPI spokeswoman.
Finding protection technology that is truly tamper-proof is another matter, however. The Secure Digital Music Initiative's efforts to develop a secure digital music solution faced a severe set back recently when a group of academics managed to circumvent all the proposed security mechanisms.
The controversy surrounding the distribution of music on the Internet has developed as MP3 becomes ever more popular. The creators of Napster are currently being sued by the Recording Industry Association for America (RIAA) for allegedly promoting music piracy.
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