CHINA CRACKS DOWN ON MUSIC PIRACY

About two dozen music websites in China appear to have been shut down after authorities announced an investigation into sites operating without the appropriate government licenses.

Earlier this month, China's Ministry of Culture released a list of 68 online music sites that had violated the ministry's regulations by operating without the necessary government license. Some of those sites have now vanished, or are displaying notices saying they have shut down.

The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), the worldwide trade organization, claimed in 2008 that 99% of music files distributed in China were pirated.

The Ministry of Culture has since worked to regulate online music providers, granting licenses only to those sites that agree not to distribute pirated music files.

In April, the Ministry released a notice warning illegal music sites to register for an operating license, providing a list of 117 websites in violation, giving them 60 days to comply.

These unlicensed music sites have "disrupted the online music market regulations and come at the expense of the online music industry and the consumers benefit," the Ministry said in the notice.

Many of the unlicensed sites the Ministry is targeting try to provide streaming music along with lyrics and links to download the MP3 file or a ringtone version of a song.

This month, the Ministry says it will investigate the offending sites with the aid of the related government departments and enforcement agencies, which are scheduled to report back in August.

The Ministry's actions will be a boon for legal music providers, said Gary Chen, one of the founders of Top100.cn, which provides legal downloads and receives funding from Google, along with backing from major record labels. The site currently boasts a music library of 3.1 million songs. Each month, the free site has about 200 million visits for downloads and online music streaming, he added. But that number still pales in comparison to some of the illegal music sites.

"Finally, the government agency of the Ministry of Culture is doing something," Chen said. "I think this is one major step for their regulations."