MySpace to block pirated audio and video clips

MySpace is partnering up with the Gracenote CD database to block pirated audio and video clips from member pages. The new system will scan uploaded content in addition to content already on member pages. Unauthorized files will be blocked and serious offenders will have their MySpace accounts deleted.

There are over 100 million profile pages on MySpace and a few million of those are music fan sites which contain pirated music. In the past year, movie and music companies have increasingly used MySpace to promote upcoming works.

This isn’t the end of music-laden MySpace pages because the company is conveniently letting members buy the rights to nearly three million independent musicians. Those songs will only be available in streaming format, presumably to prevent piracy.

Gracenote’s database is the same one used for Apple’s iTunes music and video store.