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Digital Top Stories
Paypal joins IFPI’s campaign to cut off illegal download stores
By CMU Editorial | Published on Friday 22 July 2011
PayPal has agreed to support efforts by global record industry trade body IFPI and the City Of London Police to target websites that sell downloads illegally. The online payment service follows the previously reported lead of Visa and Mastercard, who pledged their support to the anti-piracy initiative back in March.
The project aims to target those websites that look like legal download services, mainly because they take payment for music (albeit normally at much lower rates than legit download stores), but which are actually unlicensed. Although in theory the operators of said sites could be targeted with copyright infringement litigation, many are based in places like Russia and the Ukraine where pursuing such legal action is tricky.
Under the IFPI and City Of London Police’s system, such sites are reported to credit card firms who then refuse to take money on behalf of the pirates, basically cutting off their lucrative Western customer base. It was the approach that led to the decline of the most famous rogue Russian download service AllofMP3.com. The City Of London Police’s Economic Crime Directorate will now also alert PayPal of dodgy download sellers.
IFPI boss Frances Moore told CMU: “We knew that when illegal online music services could no longer take payment from credit cards they would try to work around the restriction. That is why we and the City of London Police approached PayPal and I am delighted to say they responded instantly and positively. The work the City of London Police is undertaking is at the cutting edge of tackling online copyright infringement, a serious problem that is eroding the ability of record companies to invest in a diverse range of artists with serious consequences for jobs, tax revenues and consumer choice”.
Confirming their involvement, PayPal’s UK MD Carl Scheible said: “Today’s announcement shows that PayPal is very serious about fighting music piracy. We’ve always banned PayPal’s use for the sale of content that infringes copyright, and the new system will make life even harder for illegal operators. Our partnership with the music industry helps rights holders make money from their own content while stopping the pirates in their tracks”.
