International Recording Media Association Launches Anti-Piracy Certifica-tion Program For Optical Media ManufacturesIndustry Initiative Applauded by Recording and Motion Picture Industry Associations

The International Recording Media Association (IRMA) announced March 15, 1999 plans for the worldís first anti-piracy certification/compliance program for manufactures of Compact Discs and DVDs.IRMA, which represents the worldís leading replicators of optical media, has gathered wide-spread industry support for this initiative, designed to help manufacturing plants establish procedures to reduce the possibility of publishing pirated material. Record labels, movie studios, game and software suppliers will be able to identify those plants which have adopted an industry-supported set of anti-piracy standards and procedures.IRMA members represent nearly 80 percent of the world capacity for the replication of CDs and DVDs.The IRMA Anti-Piracy Compliance Certification Program is being developed with the support of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) as a major step toward helping entertainment rights holders combat the piracy of their material on optical discs.""By establishing the first standards for a way that replicators can audit their internal anti-piracy procedures, IRMA has taken a major step toward helping record labels and movie studios prevent the inadvertent replication of unauthorized CDs and DVDs,"" said Scott Bartlett, IRMA Chairman and Vice President, Customer and Industry Relations of Sony Disc Manufacturing/DADC.""For the first time, content providers will now be able to identify those replicators that are protecting their industry interests by complying with stringent manufacturing and operational procedures to prevent the manufacture of products that break international copyright regulations,"" Barlett added.Steven DíOnofrio, Executive Vice President/Director of Anti-Piracy of the RIAA, commended IRMA for taking this initiative. ""This Certification Program will be very helpful to the record industry in going and we are grateful for the steps that the industry is taking to help the recording industry combat disc piracy.""Kenneth Jacobsen, Vice President and Director of USAPO of the MPAA, said, ""The development of industry standards will help us greatly, especially as we go overseas to show that the U.S. is taking aggressive steps to protect intellectual property rights. Our thanks to IRMA for the opportunity to join in these efforts.""Lou Vaccarelli, Vice President Production, Manufacturing and Purchasing, BMG Entertainment, N.A., indicated that the IRMA efforts will play a significant role in the way the content providers will select their manufacturing partner in the years ahead. ""BMG plans to do business only with replicators who are IRMA certified. At BMG this will be a requirement as we move into the future.According to IRMA Executive Vice President Charles Van Horn, the associationís Anti-Piracy Coalition is currently circulating a draft of its Anti-Piracy Compliance Certification Program Procedures, which is expected to be finalized by summer of 1999. Implementation of the program and auditing of IRMA certified disc replicators will be connected by the association under the direction of former CBS/Sony industry executive Howard Schwartz, who has been named Director of the IRMA Anti-Piracy Compliance Program.""The IRMA Compliance Program is expected to be modeled after the ISO 9000 program, which has become and international manufacturing industry standard. Through internal audits and regularly scheduled surveillance, IRMA will be able to uphold the standards for self-regulation that our customers are depending upon us to uphold,"" said Schwartz.Van Horn added that both the Business Software Alliance and Optical Media Mastering Association have also provided input to the Program and that major software suppliers like Microsoft are scheduled to participate in upcoming IRMA Anti-Piracy Coalition meetings.The international Recording Media Association is the advocate for the growth and development of recording media and is the industry forum for the exchange of information regarding global trends and innovations.For more information contact Charles Van Horn at 609 279 1700.