Thursday, February 15, 2001
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) - Acting on complaints from the music
industry, police have raided the homes of users of music-sharing
websites looking for evidence they infringed copyright rules, the
prosecutors' office said Thursday.
Police searched the home of a first suspect in late December and
two more in January, Olivier Bogaert, a prosecution spokesman, told
Belgian news media.
He said the searches were part of an investigation of the
Internet site mp3blast.com, but added four cases against Napster
users were currently under review.
Marcel Heymans, general director of the Belgium branch of the
International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, said he
warned police of alleged copyright infractions.
Heymans said his organization had tracking equipment that could
search for users ``by the thousands.''
At the moment, he said the group was only targeting users ``who
had been clearly warned yet persevered with the practice.''
The European Parliament on Wednesday endorsed tougher rules
granting artists and record labels more copyright protection for
their works downloaded from the Internet. The vote came days after
a U.S. appeals court effectively ordered Napster to stop people who
use the music-sharing service from swapping copyrighted music
without charge and without restriction.
The 15 EU governments are expected to approve the new law in a
matter of weeks. It would take effect after national parliaments
give their blessing, a process that can take up to 18 months.
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