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Internet Music Sharing Blocked(Korea Times Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)By Cho Jin-seo The music industry's effort to charge for music files on the Internet got a major boost on Friday as file sharing service providers blocked access to music files. Responding to music industry requests to block illegal music sharing, the association of peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing service providers in South Korea have decided not to allow transfers of MP3 music files, as of Friday. ``We held an urgent meeting last week, and eight of 11 member companies agreed to block MP3 files until we find ways to charge users,'' said Jun Hyun-sung, chairman of the association. However, he refused to name the eight companies because he worries they may suffer a disadvantage in negotiations with the music industry. MP3 music files which can be played on PCs, cell phones, MP3 players and various other digital gadgets have been freely shared on the Internet in South Korea, even though the courts last year ruled such activity illegal. P2P services like Soribada and Purna have been widely used for file sharing, where thousands of users can give and take their music and movie data. Users pay only about 50 won to service providers for downloading an entire album, usually about 50 megabytes in MP3 file format, the original album's copyright holders receive nothing. The music companies say such file sharing on the Internet has severely damaged the industry. According to the Korean Association of Phonogram Producers (KAPP), the offline sales of music albums plummeted from over 400 billion won in 2000 to 120 billion won in 2005, as most young people tend to listen to music on digital players rather than carrying bulky CD or tape players. The P2P music sharing service is unlikely to resume in the near future, even though users are willing to pay to download songs. Soribada, the first and most popular P2P music sharing service in South Korea, said last month it postponed the launch of its new subscription service indefinitely, as it has failed to make a deal with copyright holders on the price of the songs. It also said there are technical issues to be solved regarding the copyright protection system. P2P service providers were ordered by the courts last year to pay the association of record companies. But the subscription service has yet to get off the ground, as negotiations between operators and copyright holders are not going smoothly. As talks between the two interest groups were unable to find a breakthrough, the KAPP and two other music industry groups sent a final request last month saying they will seek legal action unless the P2P providers start to pay them from June 12. ``The online service companies are worried the government only listens to the copyright holders. We will request the government to take a more balanced stance on the matter,'' Jun of the P2P association said. |