LONDON, UK (IFPI) - Delegates attending this year's Midem will receive the much publicised free software
Digital File Check and Childnet Parent's Guide "Young People,
Music and the Internet". Both projects were launched in 2005 as part of the music sector's education drive to help people enjoy music and film on the internet safely, legally and responsibly and have been recently updated.
Digital File Check and the parents' guide "Young People, Music and the Internet" are the latest in a series of music sector education initiatives aimed at raising public awareness of the legal and security issues around downloading online music. Launched in association with the www.pro-music.org campaign and with children's internet safety charity Childnet International, respectively, these projects have reached computer users, parents, libraries, schools and music fans in 10 countries. Many more will join the campaign in 2006.
John Kennedy, Chairman and CEO of IFPI said: "Education has a critical part to play in the development of a thriving legitimate digital music market. At a time when music on the internet, both legal and illegal, is being made available everywhere, people now more than ever need to be armed with knowledge about the opportunities and the pitfalls surrounding online music.
"We hope the Midem delegates will take the time to look at these two resources and see what the recording industry is hoping to achieve through its public awareness campaigns. And if they like what they see, they are welcome to come to us for more copies, whether it be for their kids' school or for a wider network of music lovers."
Digital File Check is a simple tool that aims to guide computer users, many of whom might be new to the world of online music. It helps to remove or block any of the unwanted file-sharing programmes commonly used to distribute copyrighted files illegally. It also allows the user to delete copyrighted music and video files from the 'shared folders' of the computer from where they are commonly swapped illegally on the internet.
The Childnet campaign "Young People, Music and the Internet", supported by the cross-sector alliance of rights holders www.pro-music.org, highlights not only the legal risks of illegal file-sharing but also the problems of harmful content and privacy and security risks that come with many unauthorised peer-to-peer networks. The guide aims to help parents everywhere keep up with the music downloading habits of their children.
Distributed physically through music retailers like Virgin Megastore in the UK or Ahlens in Sweden, computer publications like Computer Easy/ Chip in the Netherlands, or children's welfare charities such as Save The Children (Spain), the software and the leaflet have also been requested by thousands of individual parents, more than 30,000 schools and 100,000 libraries in those countries that have launched. To date, 30,000 digital copies of Digital File Check, found on www.ifpi.org and local partner sites, have been downloaded by individual users.
