Sony Music Entertainment Japan chairman Masao Morita spoke about music piracy and the lack of enforcement by the Japanese government during his keynote speech at MIDEM yesterday. The Japanese government has recently added a law that makes downloading unauthorized content illegal, but Morita is concerned that this will never be enforced.
"Technically that law doesn't have any punishment. We are asking [the government] to add the punishment [measures] for [illegal] downloading," Morita said at the MIDEM keynote.
He also requested that his country's government work toward tougher action on illegal downloading: "As a music industry, we have to protect the content, we have to work with the police force on how to protect the content."
A Billboard.biz article says that despite declining CD sales, Morita still believes in the music he's selling, and he sees the shift to digital downloading as an inevitability. SMEJ has been developing digital services for some time now. Don't count on DRM-free downloads from Sony Japan, though.
When asked about DRM-less downloads: "I personally cannot accept that. Content has a value and it has to be protected."
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