Australia Frets Over Cd Piracy

Industry concerns are rising in Australia about the prospect of an increase in pirated music and computer-game compact discs following the record sales of blank recordable CDs and CD recording machines over the Christmas period.

One of Australia's largest home entertainment retail chains, Harvey Norman, sold 5 million units of blank CDs in 1998, 600,000 of which shipped in December alone, according to local press reports. This is a record for the retailer, which is estimated to have a market share of about 20% in recordable CDs.

The chain also sold more than 6,000 CD writers following drastic reductions in price over the year to as low as AUS$500 ($300).

Software and hardware manufacturers, such as Philips and Sony, have also reported a substantial increase in sales over the past few months.

In Australia, blank CDs can be used legally to back up data, but retailers are reporting bulk sales of the discs to children, which they said indicated domestic copying of music CDs and computer games.

A pack of 10 blank CDs retails for about AUS$13 ($8), while a new-release music CD costs up to AUS$30 ($18) and a computer game up to $90 ($55).

Australia's software industry for music, games and computer products is estimated to be worth about AUS$2.5 billion ($1.5 billion) in retail sales annually.