December 8, 2006
Concern over mobile music-sharing
According to the BBC, children are increasingly swapping music via mobile phones, often without realising they can be breaking the law.
"A survey of almost 1,500 eight to 13-year-olds found almost a third shared music via their mobiles.
Children are using the built-in Bluetooth wireless feature of many phones to swap music - but without the consent of copyright holders.
Mr Hart, co-founder of Intuitive Media, which conducted the survey,, said: "Music sharing on the internet was identified by the industry as one of the biggest threats they've faced in recent years and this research shows that mobile has got the potential to exacerbate those problems".
... Matt Phillips, communications manager for the BPI, which represents the UK music industry, said: "The illegal sharing of music is clearly a concern for the record industry.
He added: "While swapping songs via Bluetooth is a concern for the industry, it hasn't caused the same problems as illegal p2p filesharing as it's copying on a one-to-one, rather than one-to-millions basis.
"Ultimately the way to grow revenues with mobile will be to offer music fans what they want and encourage them to get their music legally."
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