IFPI Shirks Responsibility To Offer Quality Legal Download Choices

May 11, 2008 Author: Paul Glazowski | Filed under: Mashable!

We’ve seen the IFPI, or the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, make numerous headlines as of late. There are have been a multitude of stories concerning copyright infringement suits and allegations. There are the seemingly routine efforts to stifle or halt BitTorrent traffic, regardless of its technological legitimacy. And recently reported was the effort by the group, in conjunction with the youth-minded charity Childnet, to promote legal music downloads through the release of a brief education guide which delineates what’s okay and what’s not okay as far as audio consumption.

We mentioned as much in a recent post, but what we didn’t do is pry open the list of recommended download sites. Today, Ernesto of TorrentFreak, delved in. And what he found was quite surprising. In short, he discovered that the initial set of half a dozen links for his place of residence, the Netherlands, to be little more than vapid domains with little legal substance and maybe even a some slices of adult content thrown in. In error, we presume.

The obvious problem that offered Ernesto such a foul experience? Bad organization. Links run from A to Z. Which can perhaps be good news for US consumers, given the availability of Amazon MP3. But the browsing process could certainly turn sour depending on alphabetics in foreign lands.

Be that as it may, there’s really no sensible excuse for the IFPI or Childnet to deliver anything less than a reliable directory. They both wish to promote good digital manners (we joke, of course) and offer children ways in which to cut into their parents’ or guardians’ paychecks. (We joke again.) Why not go the extra mile and prove to consumers that they care about making money as much as they wish consumers to care about the fortunes of those that truly matter (artists/musicians) in the music industry? This discovery seems nothing more than a continuation of the negligence exemplified by big business forces for the past several years, which, as with many past instances, will ultimately lead to those companies’ ill effect.

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