Radiohead

Radiohead

Radiohead fans sharing online copies of the band's album In Rainbows have been targeted in a new internet crackdown in a bid to stop the spread of free music.

The British band launched the record online in 2007 in an innovative scheme which allowed fans to pay whatever they wanted for the songs, with many downloading the tracks without offering any money.

But just three years after the rockers' pioneering scheme, bloggers offering up In Rainbows for free are facing the wrath of two of the music industry's most powerful bodies - the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI).

Executives at the two organisations have written to bosses of web search engine Google, asking them to disable bloggers' accounts if they are caught offering the songs online for free.

The complaint, posted on Chillingeffects, claims the works "have not been authorised" for free download by their "member companies".


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