Block illegal song download sites, says RIM

Friday September 21, 2007

PETALING JAYA: The music industry here wants the Government to block Internet users in the country from accessing illegal song download sites.

The Recording Industry Association of Malaysia (RIM) said music sales were plummeting.

“We are feeling the pinch from foreign websites offering illegal downloads to Malaysians,” said RIM chief executive officer Tan Ngiap Foo.

He said the association had proposed the measure to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), the regulatory body for the telecommunications industry.

“It’s hard to quantify just how much damage has been inflicted by such (illegal download) sites but sales last year was only RM87mil compared with RM200mil about 10 years ago,” said Tan.

“Nobody wants to buy CDs anymore, not even pirated CDs,” he added.

According to him, the demand for digitised music is increasing among Malaysians due to growing broadband penetration and the larger storage capabilities of personal computers and music-playing handheld devices such as cellphones and MP3 players.

Unfortunately for RIM, Tan said, much of the demand was being satisfied by illegal download websites.

“We are hoping that once MCMC is aware of this matter, it will block these music sites. You can find a lot of local songs on them. You can even get Siti Nurhaliza downloads from sites registered in China – all illegal,” Tan said.

RIM is compiling a list of illegal downloading sites hosted overseas to present to MCMC by the end of the month.

MCMC chairman Datuk Dr Halim Shafie said the commission would need to study the situation and RIM’s request before taking any action.

“We must be mindful of what the implications are because there is a lot of sensitivity involved when it comes to blocking websites,” he said.

Music fans can now make legal downloads from sites like music.bluehyppo.com and bimbit.com.