Govt Sets Up Team to Identify Ilegal Music Sites

Jakarta - The Indonesian government has set up a team to identify illegal music sites now already recorded at 20 which have the potential to hurt the domestic music industry worth up to Rp12 trillion. "We have set up a team to identify illegal music sites in cooperation with music industry parties," minister of communications and information Tifatul Sembiring said here on Wednesday. He said until now his side had been able to identify minimally 20 illegal music sites following complaints from various parties including music industry communities that have demanded the closure of the sites. Among the illegal sites identified so far are www.mp3bos.com, www.mp3gratis.net, www.mp3lagu.com, www.mp3bear.com, www.plasamusic.com, www.gudanglagu.com, and trendmusic.com. "Our target this year is educating and improving awarenss and literacy of the people which is to be followed by law enforcement. In the next six months we will conduct closures of the sites," he said. The ministry's director general of applications, Aswin Sasongko, meanwhile said the team was put under the structural coordination of the ministry of communications and information and involved music industry elements. He said identification would be done on sites located abroad and at home. "With regard to overseas sites we would immediately block them temporarily while we would first invite operators of the domestic sites to conduct business communications (before blocking their sites)," he said.