Coming Soon Down Under: Copy Kiosks

The copy cat will soon be out of the bag down under. Australia's musical copyright society has reluctantly agreed to the deployment of CD-copying kiosks throughout the nation in exchange for what an Australian news site calls "a modest royalty payment" of about 6% of the $5AUS copying fee—or 30¢ per disc.

Coin-operated "Little Ripper" copying machines of undetermined legality are already in place in some Australian convenience stores. They could become commonplace in supermarkets, shopping malls, and music stores by September, thanks to an agreement between the Australian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS) and an Adelaide-based enterprise that hopes to profit from music fans' desire for cheap tunes.

Australia will become the first nation to "legalize music piracy," according to a June 24 report by Nui Te Koha of the Herald Sun. The deal has serious ramifications for the music industry worldwide, executives told Te Koha. Little Rippers are said to be able to bypass all existing copy-prevention technology. The machines are expected to be hugely popular with older music fans who may not own home computers or CD burners.

AMCOS licensing director Richard Mallett and Little Ripper CEO Greg Moore reached the agreement on Friday, June 21. Moore described the development as "a significant breakthrough for the consumer." Little Ripper franchises will cost operators about $20,000 each.

The Australian Record Industry Association (ARIA) has long maintained that CD-burning kiosks are illegal, but is considering Moore's proposal of royalty payments. "Any request or application that is made of the industry is not just point-blank rejected," ARIA anti-piracy inspector Michael Speck told Te Koha, with the caveat that the "opportunity for piracy increases dramatically if a vending machine with CD burner is put in a public place."

One music industry official interviewed by Te Koha described the Little Ripper deal as "a total ambush" and "another angle in a technological nightmare the music industry is finding unstoppable."

Worldwide, the music industry has resisted all overtures by companies like Moore's. The enduring mystery is why the industry itself didn't jump into the commercial copying business as soon as the machines became viable. Cornering the copy market early—and using peer-to-peer networks as promotional channels—would have been great strategies for containing the piracy epidemic.

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