MUMBAI: British music veterans including Elton John, Simon Cowell and Andrew Lloyd-Webber have filed a letter to Prime Minister David Cameron against illegal file sharing and have called for a strict crackdown on the issue.
Claiming that the UK economy could be boosted by stronger copyright laws to protect the music industry, the artistes have urged the PM to implement the Digital Economy Act 2010 to ensure that internet service providers (ISPs), search engines and online advertisers protect consumers from illegal sites.
The letter warns that search sites, broadband providers and online advertisers must ‘play their part in protecting consumers and creators from illegal sites’.
The letter was also signed by Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend from The Who, Brian May and Roger Taylor from Queen, Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin, Professor Green and Tinie Tempah.
The letter revealed a row between the music industry and Google, which saw the music trade body (BPI) accuse Google of making it easy for users to click through to file-sharing websites with illegal, free music downloads. Google replied that it removed millions of links from its listings each month in response to demands from music publishers.