The RIAA and the US Government’s National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center (IPR Center) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to coordinate public and private sector efforts to disrupt online piracy. Criminal prosecutions for music piracy are relatively rare, so the partnership may signal changes ahead.

Following a disastrous few years at the turn of the century where the major labels failed to accept the direction their own industry was heading, streaming services such as Spotify are now giving the majority of music consumers what they have demanded all along.

Massive libraries of accessible music at prices suitable for all pocket depths are helping the industry back to its glory days, with last year proving the most successful on record. But despite music being readily available for free, somehow piracy is still an issue for the world’s largest labels, with stream-ripping platforms the current boogeyman.

In recent years, the majors have targeted some of these services in successful civil lawsuits but a new partnership suggests that criminal enforcement may lie ahead for selected targets.

The rest of this article can be read on TorrentFreak.com

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