New research from the University of Technology in Sydney suggests that the use of P2P networks to illegally acquire music is still prevalent in Australia because over a third of the country's most popular music tracks are not available on the main three
Australian download sites. The research, which revealed that less than a half of the current Australian Top 20 singles are available via the country's three main download platforms - ninemsn Music, Destra and BigPond Music - comes as P2P company
Kazaa fights what is proving to be its hardest legal battle to date in the Australian courts.
While the Australian record labels blame the growth of broadband internet and continued use of P2P for a 6% decline in record sales there,
University of Technology researcher Alex Malik says the record labels themselves are to blame for the continued popularity of Kazaa et al by preventing legal download platforms from having access to key artists and releases.
Malik:
"The Australian intellectual property rights holders have been more efficient in enforcing their rights than anywhere else. Despite that environment of certainty, they haven't made these tracks available." Malik says that at some times up to 67% of new releases are not available via download platforms, which means: "If you want to listen to a track on an iPod, there are two choices. Download it illegally, or buy the CD and rip it illegally."
He concluded: "ARIA is inviting consumers to purchase content supplied by authorised MP3 providers, as an alternative to illegal downloads. But critics can question the validity of the message if key titles such as Australia's number one song are unavailable in an MP3 format."
The head of the Australian Recording Industry Association's anti-piracy division, Steven Peach, has called Malik's report "flawed and tendentious". He told reporters: "If and when there is a legitimate online market it will be easier for online services to provide a product. People prefer the option of taking the music for nothing, and that's the reason we need to enforce our rights to give legitimate businesses a fair go. Enforcing our rights is necessary for legitimate services to flourish."