Music Industry Piracy Investigations has released a guide entitled "Internet Caf̩ Guide РAre You and Your Customers Doing the Right Thing?", which outlines how to get music legally online and the possible consequences for internet caf̩s that allow copyright theft to take place on their premises. The move comes soon after a recent Australian Federal Police raid on an internet caf̩ in the Sydney CBD which allegedly offered its customers unlimited access to terabytes of pirated music and movies for an hourly fee. The MIPI stated that thanks to the Australian Federal Police"s raid of the internet caf̩ late last year, many internet cafes have removed illegal music files from their servers. It appears that the guide has been released to further help direct their decisions when it comes to allowing file transfers.
"In addition to reinforcing copyright laws through effective police action, it is crucial that internet café owners have a clear understanding of how to respect music copyright through educational initiatives. Put simply, it is not acceptable to save illegal copies of music onto café servers or to allow customers access to that pirated material. It is also not acceptable to allow café customers to download illegal copies of music files from the internet through café computers. As the MIPI Internet Café Guide points out, café owners can be held criminally or civilly liable for such illegal conduct. MIPI looks forward to working with internet café owners through the provision of the MIPI Internet Café Guide to ensure that they understand music copyright law and that the law is applied fairly to them," said Sabiene Heindl, General Manager of MIPI.