The battle between online music-swapping service providers and the Japanese music industry is intensifying, with the industry vowing to crack down on what it calls illegal sharing of digital copies of music.
According to Isamu Tomizuka, chairman of the Recording Industry Association of Japan, "Music is being stolen. We will have to take self-defense measures to protect the foundation of the music industry from damage that is spreading like a pyramid scheme."
In November, MMO Japan Ltd., an operator of an online file-swapping service, put on the domestic market File Rogue software, enabling subscribers to retrieve songs free of charge.