Music industry chiefs, led by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and several leading high-tech companies have agreed not to introduce "locking controls" on hardware and in software to block piracy.

The private sector cannot solve this problem by itself Disney lobbyist

Instead, the two industries will pursue a campaign to educate people about piracy.

But the deal does not have the support of all sides in the entertainment and technology industries.

The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), which represents all the major US film studios, and firms such as Gateway and Verizon, advocate the use of "locking" technology to protect content being copied or distributed over the internet.

Government

Piracy is seen as the biggest single issue facing the entertainment industry, which fears it will lose billions of dollars in revenue if consumers are freely copying and exchanging music or films without paying for it.

Despite the deal announced on Tuesday, many observers feel the issue of copyright protection will be eventually settled by the government.

The Disney Corporation has called on the government to help set content-protection standards that will be observed by everybody.

"The private sector cannot solve this problem by itself," said Preston Padden, a Disney lobbyist.

The new deal has been applauded by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), which represents manufacturers of electronics.

"We welcome the RIAA's apparent opposition to government mandates that would force consumer electronics manufacturers to insert controls into their products which would limit consumers' home recording and fair use rights," said CEA spokesman Gary Shapiro.

Massive piracy

Organisations like the CEA are keen to allow consumers the freedom to make limited copies of books, movies and music for personal or academic use.

But these so-called "fair rights" for consumers are not supported by the MPAA.

The growth of the internet has led to massive piracy of music, with tracks being saved to computers and then shared amongst music fans through "sharing" sites such as Kazaa.

Music sales have fallen sharply over the last few years, with music producers blaming sharing of files over the internet and digital piracy as the major factors.