Proposed Solutions

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is probably the organization that is most interested in restricting the MP3 format. It is currently increasing awareness of online music piracy through its press releases and through its sponsorship of SOUNDBYTING, a campaign to protect music on the Internet. It is heavily supporting digitial music piracy legislation, and it also tries to shut down illegal MP3 sites. In the long run, it is encouraging manufacturers to develop digitial music technologies which are more secure and more sensitive of copyrights.

Michael Robertson, who launched MP3.com, has a different opinion. He lauds the open standard of MP3s and suggests self-policing of MP3 sites. That is, if a computer user performs a search and finds illegal sites, then he or she should report the site to the site's web server, so that it can be shut down. Robertson blames the MP3 industry for MP3 piracy. In an article on his website, Robertson wrote, "While CD prices continue to rise, the music industry seems oblivious to customer outcries for alternatives. In the absence of alternatives to buying what many consider overpriced music from limited sources, customers will create their own alternatives. In the past, it was asking friends to make tapes. The internet has made it easier to acquire music without paying for it by expanding those friends to a worldwide population."

GoodNoise, an MP3 music distributor, is embedding a digitial signature into its files to determine if its files are being distributed on illegal sites, although it is not interested in tracking down pirates. Steve Grady, president of communications at GoodNoise, states, "You can't protect music using technology. By encrypting files, you're making it hard for people to use it. But if you give them a good price and a lot of flexibility, most people will follow the rules. There's no motivation in looking for a track for hours when you can get it for 99 cents. The Internet is about convenience, after all."

What is the future of MP3? Sources at Microsoft have announced that they will be unveiling a format in April which offers better sound quality than MP3s at twice the compression rate. Even if this product happens to be Microsoft's vaporware, it is very likely that in the near future, another digital music format will supercede MP3s, probably by offering the combination of better compression and better sound quality. Many of the formats currently being developed have more security features than MP3s. This will please recording industry executives and artists, but it is uncertain whether or not the public will catch on. Those currently using MP3s will be reluctant to embrace a new technology, which is more restrictive, when they already have a current technology which they are pleased with. The technology probably will have to be much superior to MP3s in order to enjoy the same success.