Windhoek — Illegal digital copying, downloading or cloning is termed stealing and this is considered a crime.

This hi-tech crime is ethically wrong as illegally copying someone's music is just as good as stealing a compact disc (CD) from a record shop, and Namibian laws are firm on piracy.

John Max, the chief executive officer of Namibia Society of Composers and Authors of Music (Nascam), strongly believes the problem lies with lax law enforcement.

The other problems are weak legislation, customs and police officials.

Customs should prevent pirated music productions from being smuggled into the country while police officers are expected to ensure these goods are not sold once they have been smuggled into Namibia. This also applies to pirated goods produced locally.

They should make follow-ups and make sure the culprits are brought to book.

The legislation would help the music industry if the fines were stiffer.

Max stated the local music industry also lacks self-imposed discipline.

Though local musicians are creative thinkers who invest a lot of time to produce quality works, they are usually not accredited for the good work done.

They expect respect for what they have come up with, says Max.

He observed that it is not like people cannot afford to legally buy original copies but they simply do not care about the local music system and the culprits conveniently forget that musicians earn their living through sales generated from CD sales and royalties.

The message should be clear that burning music from computers is violating the law. Nascam has shown concern over the current draft bill that seems to give way to piracy. Most people don't realise the seriousness of music piracy.

Nascam suggests the draft bill should be amended to carry fines of between N$50 000 to N$100 000 from the current fine of between N$12 000 to N$20 000 which Nascam believes is too lenient.

Nascam wants total eradication of piracy. Without doubt, Namibian music is rated among the continent's best judging from the awards scooped recently by local musicians.

Gal Level, The Dogg and Lady May scooped Channel O awards, taking Namibian music to another dimension.

The question remains, what role are fellow Namibians playing to secure the future of music in Namibia. Are they investing in music or destroying it?

In October this year, in Nairobi, Kenya hosted a workshop and training for licensing digital music online and concerns over piracy were discussed.

The workshop discussed issues concerning downloads without authorisation. The discussion covered monitoring advertising companies, and digital music jukeboxes. The workshop also concentrated on laws that countries could implement.

The download charges of digital jukeboxes are very low. For a music developing country such as Namibia, this is unacceptable.

Music should be obtained through the right channels. Have an agreement with the publishing company.

Mobile companies sell music in the form of ringtones. Moreover, money generated through such do not reach the originators of the music, and producers and musicians.

Piracy has affected the Namibian industry due to ignorance. People do not consider the consequences of downloading music as illegal. Those at the receiving end of pirated music have to know that they are also contributing to piracy.

Namibia as a developing country has experienced difficulties in implementing copyright laws. People do not seem to understand that it is wrong and it is one of the major factors pulling the nations development down.

It is costly to produce an album. Usually when music production is on the way, the producers set targets towards the release. They estimate the sales and profit, in most cases these targets are not met due to low sales due to piracy.

Nascam together with law enforcers are working hard in making sure that people understand the effects of piracy. They have made arrangements on critical measures to deal with those found breaching the law.