<A HREF="http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/internet/01/21/music.williams.reut/index.html" TARGET=_blank>Robbie Williams: Music Piracy Great[/url]<P>CANNES, France (Variety) -- British pop star Robbie Williams shocked attendees Sunday at music industry confab Midem by declaring piracy a good idea. <P>"I think it's great, really I do," Williams, who recently signed a reported $120 million deal with EMI/Capitol, said at a press conference. "There's nothing anyone can do about it. I'm sure my record label would hate me saying it, and my management and accountants." <P>In the past, Williams has supported moves to prevent the illegal downloading of music. He signed a petition in July 2000 that called on the European Union Copyright Directive to allow artists to use technology to protect their work and to stop Net piracy. <P>Music execs infuriated<P>Williams' views infuriated music execs and his remarks drew a response from Jay Berman, chief executive of the International Federation of Phonographic Industries, in his keynote speech. <P>Berman said it was a myth that the Internet would kill the music industry. "On the contrary, in 2003 we are going to be working the Internet much harder, to promote new legitimate services while at the same time actively targeting the sources of online piracy." <P>The Recording Industry Association of America, sister body of IFPI, released figures Sunday that claimed revenue lost to the music industry through CD and online piracy was up by 20 percent to more than $5 billion. <P>Marketing tool?<P>Hip-hop star Wyclef Jean told Daily Variety that while piracy was bad for the industry, he recognized its potential as a marketing tool. "It affects artists, but (downloading) still gives us the credibility factor. But they have got to find a way to control it, as it is killing the business." <P>Chris Schwartz, chief executive of Ruffhouse Nation, the Columbia-backed label responsible for the success of the Fugees, agreed with Jean. "Piracy is the quickest way to get a record out," he said. "There was a time early in my days with Columbia Records, when I was glad if my record got bootlegged." <P>Schwartz made it clear he was against mass copying or organized piracy: "I'm not condoning piracy in any way." <BR>
