IBM AND RECORD COMPANIES TO TEST MUSIC PUBLISHING ON THE INTERNET.

The global record industry is coordinating its opposition to music sites on the Internet, with a number of companies recently signing an agreement with the American computer giant IBM to test a system that would enable artists to recover royalties on works disseminated. On February 9, IBM unveiled a system allowing for the simple and swift and entirely secure distribution of music. Five record companies, BMG, EMI, Sony Music, Universal Music and Warner Music, have signed up to the initiative. The trial will be launched in the spring among a thousand cable subscribers in San Diego, California, who will be able to purchase music via their computers without breaching legislation on reproduction rights. A number of companies operating on the Internet currently offer music using an almost identical principle. Legal battles have ensured, but one high...