This Song Must be Stopped

It is estimated that the market for pirate recordings in Israel has reached NIS 250 million while the legal market is NIS500 million. Israeli, Palestinian and Eastern European criminals have joined forces to turn the autonomy into the source for pirated music. Factories in Ramallah, Hebron and other locations produce virtually identical copies of the original recordings. The factory in Ramallah is owned by the family of the mayor. While there are heavy pirate music sales in Saturday markets in Israeli Arab cities where Israelis can buy recording sometimes by weight, the copies are also now making their way into the regular stores. The music industry fears that soon the pirating will collapse the market.