A music group coalition has written a letter to CBS complaining that its CNET website is promoting music downloading software it claims is illegal. The software allows music to be ripped from YouTube and other websites and converted to digital music files.
The group, which includes the Recording Industry Association of America and SAG-AFTRA, the actors' union, complained that CNET is promoting software that allows users to download content meant only for legal streaming purposes. In a letter directed to CBS CEO Les Moonves, the coalition complained that, through CNET, CBS has "made various computer, Web and mobile applications available that induce users to infringe copyrighted content by ripping the audio or the audio and video from what might be an otherwise legitimate stream."
CNET is one of the most used resources for accessing legal software downloads on the Web and includes an area specifically for that purpose called Download.com. The group points out that two of the top 10 Web applications listed on Download.com are YouTube converters: Free YouTube Downloader and YTD Video Downloader.
The downloaders work by asking the user to copy the url of the video directly from YouTube and paste it into a dedicated box on the screen. When the user hits the convert button, the ripper converts the audio and creates a download link to an MP3 or other digital format of the user's preference. The user then clicks on the link to download the music file, which is essentially a permanent MP3, which the user now owns and can play on the computer on which it was downloaded or copy to and use on other devices, such as a smartphone or iPod.
YouTube ripping is not only available via apps from which users can download, but also directly via the Internet on various websites dedicated to the activity, often offered by the same companies that developed the software. While Apple and Google, which owns YouTube, have been actively working to have these downloaders removed, the coalition wonders in its letter to Moonves, "Why isn't CBS doing more to deter this illegal activity?"
A CBS Interactive spokesperson responded by stating: "All of the software indexed on Download.com is legal."
