Music piracy should not be romanticised (‘I was the Spotify of the 1980s!’ The Italian pirate mixtape empire that brought pop to the people, 8 March), as it was a major criminal activity – no different to the drug dealing or tobacco smuggling that generated millions of dollars in revenue for organised crime in Naples.
Europol and transnational investigations proved that counterfeiting and piracy weren’t victimless crimes: they were often linked to drug trafficking, money laundering and more besides, and Italy was unfortunately one of the top countries in the world for this in the early 1990s. In fact the US government elevated Italy to the priority watchlist of the Department of Commerce for a lack of enforcement, and our music industry was forced to create a special unit to fight the illegal business in the country.
It emerged later in trials that organised crime was generating huge revenues from the business, most of which they controlled. In February 2003, a Camorra boss, Luigi Giuliano, questioned by the anti-mafia public prosecutor Filippo Beatrice (as reported by the local newspaper il Mattino) described the role of organised crime in music and video piracy, stating that Camorra clans earn “€100,000 each week dealing with drugs, extortion, video and music piracy”.
He described in detail how organised crime managed the illegal operations in Naples, with different gangs controlling the calls for tenders, the drugs sales, the illegal betting and the production of counterfeit CDs. These “local” gangs kept part of the illegal gains while other monies were deposited in Camorra bosses’ bank accounts. Giuliano confirmed that the Camorra was directly involved in the production and distribution of pirate CDs. He added that, during a turf war in the early 80s in which dozens were killed, the “Cupola”, the illegal main board of the criminal alliance, agreed on the distribution of the illegal activities to various gangs. The “pax mafiosa” which followed allowed the criminal network to increase the business in many areas, including the emerging piracy business.
Today, the criminal counterfeit trade has largely been replaced by digital piracy in the form of the illegal streaming of sports events, and of movies and music, but the end result remains depressingly the same, with organised crime profiting to support its many other illicit activities. So let’s not be taken in by any fanciful tales that seek to justify or even glorify music piracy; let us instead observe the dark shadows that it casts.
Enzo Mazza
CEO, Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana
