The war against music piracy, peer-to-peer networks and filesharing is almost as old as the Interwebs themselves, and organizations like the RIAA are constantly looking for new ways to enforce laws and educate a younger generation of music fans to their side of the issue.

One organization has a new approach to spreading their message, and it appears like they are trying to drag some unwilling participants to their side.

The Australian music industry has just launched a campaign to discourage illegal file sharing has created a 10-minute film which is being distributed for free to all high schools in Australia. The film features several musicians discussing the issue, except that at least one punk artist was lied to about the reason for the video, according to a story in the Sydney Morning Herald.

Frenzal Rhomb guitarist Lindsay McDougall said he was told the film was about trying to survive as an Australian musician and that no one told him the anti-piracy stance the video would take.

Most telling is this quote, which points out that he, like many other musicians, feel that this is a problem for the record labels, not the bands:

I'm from a punk rock band, it's all about getting your music out any way you can - you don't make money from the record, the record companies make the money from the record. If they can't make money these days because they haven't come onside with the way the world is going, it's their own problem.

It does seem like a desperate act on the part of the industry – have they reached to point where they can’t find anyone else like Lars Ulrich to speak out, and so have to lie to musicians to get them to (seemingly) support their cause? It really seems like a PR debacle on the part of the labels.

To cleanse your palate from all the heavy backhanded dealings (and to help point out McDougall’s position), here are three free Frenzal Rhomb MP3s for you to download. It’s OK, and you can also feel free to share them with your friends.

• ”I Went Out With A Hippy & Now I Love Everyone Except For Her”
• ”Had Enough”
• ”You Are Not My Friend”

Photo by Nick Laham/Newsmakers/Getty Images