Despite a wave of hostile publicity, the 1,500-phis lawsuits launched by the music industry in America since last September seem to have had some success. Final figures for 2007 have yet to be released, but preliminary estimates suggest that the decline that has seen worldwide music sales fall by more than a fifth in the past four years was arrested. Inspired by this, the industry’s lawyers launched a second wave of lawsuits.
This is just one of many defensive measures being adopted by an industry that is feeling the pressure. There has also been a round of actual and attempted mergers (合并) and alliances, and a wave of restructuring, in order to improve efficiency. EMI has tried to merge with Warner Music, and was also linked with Bertelsmann’s BMG music part. But BMG instead got together with Sony Music, while Warner Music was bought by a private-equity (私募股权) consortium (联合).
None of these actions has done anything to change the public’s view of the music industry as one that cheats its customers. One reason that the illegal sharing of music files online is still so widespread is that music-lovers know how little of the price of a CD goes on its manufacture, or to the artist.
When it comes to the Internet, the music companies have finally got the message. The industry has at last given its backing to online music stores, such as Apple Computer’s iTunes and Roxio’s Napster 2.0. Even so, the number of 99-cent CDs sold by these companies remains weakened by the free downloads still available using the likes of KaZaA and Grokster. The industry has failed to shut down file-sharing companies whose peer-to-peer software has legal applications. However, behind the scenes the big CD companies are understood to be in talks with these pirates, to see if they can agree on a way to extract payments for songs.
According to the International Federation of the Phonographic (留声机的) Industry, the lawsuits against file-shares in America had a "healthy effect on the industry". Despite the industry’s official optimism about its legal strategy, it has limitations. Even after lowering the bar to go after those who have shared hundreds, of songs--rather than thousands--they have still charged less than 0.1% of illegal file-sharers; the lawsuits have made many of the others think twice before downloading illegal music, but plenty have continued regardless. Moreover, the strategy has created public-relations problems, worsening the public view of the industry as greedy.
The reason given for the widespread illegal online sharing of music is that______.