San Diego Union-TribuneSunday, October 10, 1999
CD pirates are burning music industry for millions
by Brian Zittel
New York Times News Service
New York - Under Me scaffolding on the southwest corner of Fulton and Nassau Streets in lower Manhattan the other day, a man at a folding table tried to entice passers-by with what has become an increasingly com- mon pitch: "CDs, $5. CDs, $5." On the northwest comer another man offered the same deal. People crowded around as if someone were giving out free food.
The recordings bore the earmarks of illegally produced copies of legitimate CDs. Those who buy them said they sound like the real thing, and in their slick packaging they resemble the CDs for sale in stores. But the tight-fitting plastic wrappers of the authentic CDs, along with the pullout sections of art and lyrics, are missing.
The discs themselves have a slight blue- green tint on the bottom side, and they list the name of the artist - often misspelled, apparently in an attempt to maneuver around copyright laws - and the CD in simple block letters rather than in the logos of the legitimate versions. These nondescript products have become the latest vehicle for streetlevel music piracy, replacing cassettes and costing the music industry tens of millions of dollars. Recent arrests hint at how quick the profits can be for what in all likelihood are a growing number of low-cost, computer-based rings that can operate out of a small basement or living room.
What's more, consumers seem quite happy with the product "In a store, the last CD cost me $14, so this was $5," said Alex to a CD by hip-hop artist Eminem that he bought from a sidewalk stand in the Wall Street area "For $15, 1 can buy three on the street And it's good quality."
While the record industry has been concentrating most of its anti- efforts on music that can be downloaded from the Internet, adhave vancements in CD technology technology pira
cy war. It is relatively easy to produce multiple CD copies of high
quality for little money.
Cheap graphics software allows some operators to copy album covers in a way that makes their products look authentic.
Peddlers are taking advantage of the market for pop and hip-hop music. The common selection on the street includes artists like Cher, Britney Spears, TLC and the Backstreet Boys Popular hip-hop artists like Nas Jay-Z Puff Daddy and DMX are available at almost every stand.
"Just when we were getting our anus around the mass replication of counterfeit and pirate cassettes is when we started to see the evolution of the CD-R and CD plant piracy problem," said Frank Creighton the director of anti-piracy operations for the Recording Industry Association of America, in an interview.
Last month, the Queens district attorney and the Suffolk County police announced the arrests of 12 people in connection with a counterfeit CD ring. Along with cassettes, computers, recording equipment and dubbing machines, authorities seized 98,000 counterfeit CDs. Offi-
cials called it the largest one-time confiscation of counterfeit CDs in the nation.
In making the announcement with the authorities, the Recording Industry Association of America, representing record companies, estimated that the Queens and Suffolk ring was taking more than $100 million a year from legitimate sales.
In 1986, three years after CDs were introduced in the United States, record companies had to decide if it was worth investing $25 million to $30 million to open a factory to manufacture them. Now, for an investment as low as $180, anyone can walk into a computer store and buy a small CD copier, called a CD burner, accompany 4 computer. Larger CD burners that can make multiple copies are available through the Internet for roughly $3,000. The burners, made by major electronics companies, copy CDs onto blank discs called CD-record- doles or CD-Rs through a digital process that maintains the quality of the recording. The CD-Rs sell for $1 each in retail stores.
With this technology available, pi