December 17, 2004
The Recording Industry of Malaysia to to eradicate ‘truetone' piracy disease
The Recording Industry of Malaysia (RIM) is getting tough on "truetone" pirates, reports The Star.
"In the case of truetones, where the master version (rather than a ringtone version of a song) is used, a master recording fee is required for recording companies, something which music pirates are blatantly disregarding, the recording industry said.
RIM chief executive officer Tan Ngiap Foo said it plans to nip truetone piracy in the bud before it becomes an "epidemic."
In conjunction with the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry, it has sent out more than 100 warning letters in the past week, and will be going on "as many raids as possible" in the future.
Tan estimated the percentage of pirated ringtones in Malaysia to be at about 90%. He could not give a breakdown for truetone piracy.
Ringtone downloads in the Asia Pacific region are estimated to be worth US$200mil (RM760mil)".
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