The FBI enters the anti-piracy fight

The FBI is joining the fight against music piracy.

Twenty three billion dollars was lost last year because of copyright violations of music, movies, software and games. The FBI calls it "intellectual property theft." On February 19 the FBI's Assistant Director for Cyber, Jana Monroe, joined with the RIAA (music), MPAA (movies), SIIA (software) and ESA (video games) to highlight a joint effort to stop theft of copyrighted materials. The effort will include a new FBI seal in the corner of products such as CDs, games, software, and other digital media. Violations could cost up to $250,000 and five years in prison - and that includes copyright infringment without monetary gain.

RIAA executive vide president Brad Buckles said: "As the seal attests, these are serious crimes with serious consequences - including federal prosecution - to making unauthorised copies or uploading music without permission, and consumers should be aware of them."

MPAA senior vice president Ken Jacobsen said the film industry was losing $3.5bn each year through piracy, before copying via the internet was taken into account. "With hundreds of thousands of jobs at stake nationwide, piracy is a serious threat to the entire entertainment industry," he said.

For more, visit the FBI website.