BRUSSELS, Belgium -- Acting on complaints from the music industry, police have raided the homes of users of music-sharing websites looking for evidence they infringed copyright rules, the prosecutors' office said Thursday.
Police searched the home of a first suspect in late December and two more in January, Olivier Bogaert, a prosecution spokesman, told Belgian news media.
He said the searches were part of an investigation of the Internet site mp3blast.com, but added four cases against Napster users were currently under review.
Marcel Heymans, general director of the Belgium branch of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, said he warned police of alleged copyright infractions.
Heymans said his organization had tracking equipment that could search for users "by the thousands."
At the moment, he said the group was only targeting users "who had been clearly warned yet persevered with the practice."
The European Parliament on Wednesday endorsed tougher rules granting artists and record labels more copyright protection for their works downloaded from the Internet. The vote came days after a U.S. appeals court effectively ordered Napster to stop people who use the music-sharing service from swapping copyrighted music without charge and without restriction.
The 15 EU governments are expected to approve the new law in a matter of weeks. It would take effect after national parliaments give their blessing, a process that can take up to 18 months.
