Contact:
David Sohn
(202) 637-9800 x317
Washington, D.C. – As consumers rush online after the holidays to fill their new MP3 players with their favorite tunes, they will find no shortage of services and Web sites willing to help out. Unfortunately, some sites may give consumers less than they bargained for.
The Center for Technology & Democracy has released a list of Web sites that happily collect subscription or membership fees, but do not appear to have licensed the rights to distribute much of the music they purport to offer. Consumers who pony up the fees may think they’ve purchased the right to lawful downloads of mainstream music – but the truth is different.
“We hope that consumers considering paying money to an unfamiliar but legitimate-looking music download service will check our list first,” said David Sohn, Senior Policy Counsel at CDT. “People who download songs from these sites – despite having paid fees – do so at their own risk. If you’re a U.S. Internet user looking for a place to lawfully obtain major-label music these sites don’t fit the bill.”
CDT’s “Music Download Warning List” consists of over 30 Web sites that charge fees and claim or imply a broad selection of music, but that CDT has confirmed are not licensed to distribute major-label music in the United States. Consumers can easily stumble upon these sites when using search engines to look for terms like “music downloads.” Consumers may find it difficult to distinguish these sites from fully licensed music subscription services.
“Our list isn’t comprehensive, but it covers a number of sites that have the potential to sow confusion in the music download market,” said Alissa Copper, CDT Policy Analyst. “That confusion is bad for individual consumers, and bad for the development and growth of the legitimate online marketplace.”
Music Download Warning List URL: www.cdt.org/copyright/warninglist