America's Gospel Music Association launch new campaign against copyright infringement.

UNDER the heading "Millions Of Wrongs Don't Make It Right" America's Gospel Music Association have launched a campaign targeted at Christian teens illegally copying music. The new campaign comes in the light of a study conducted by The Barna Group of Ventura, California, a leading research firm for information and analysis regarding cultural trends and the Church, which indicated that there is little difference between Christian teens and their non-Christian counterparts when it came to acquiring new music. Just 10 per cent of Christian teens surveyed believed that copying CDs for friends and unauthorised music downloading are morally wrong, compared to six per cent of non-Christians. Only one in 13 teenagers (eight per cent) expressed moral opposition to piracy.

Said John W Styll, president of the GMA, at a press conference leading off GMA Week 2004 in Nashville, "Like all other segments of the music industry, our album sales have been affected by the ongoing music piracy committed by consumers. We went into this study wanting to learn more about our young consumers and how their faith intersects with this vital issue. We were somewhat surprised to find that it does not. This furthers our resolve that we, meaning the industry, parents and spiritual leaders, need to do a better job educating the hearts and minds of young people to the basic biblical principle, 'thou shalt not steal.'"