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interesting article



Interesting Napster/Gnutella article in my local paper this week.  If
anyone isn't familiar with Gnutella, it's a program similar to Napster,
except for the search mechanism.  Napster searches through a central
server computer and Gnutella links the individual users directly and
can be used to download software as well as mp3 files.  Excerpts
follow:


NAPSTER SEARCH FOR RARE SONGS LURES MUSIC FAN
by Breuse Hickman

The song-trading computer program Napster has become widely popular
during the past few months, and the reasons are obvious.  For starters,
the program is free and so is downloading copyrighted music--if users
are willing to break the law.  Once the program is installed, users can
type in a request for a song, artist or both and then initiate a
search,  Napster will seek out computers that are running Napster and,
drawing from a central database, offer a list of matching MP3 files to
download...The artist and recording company get nothing.

The RIAA isn't ready to give up the income companies get from cd sales,
so it has sued Napster.  Last week, rock band Metllica became the first
major musical act to sue the company because of copyright
infringement...Under copyright law, most of the music out there belongs
to the band that made it (and, yes, the record company that released
it).

In a small way, I like the fact that I'm helping to stick it to the
mean old RIAA, whom I can't really feel sorry for.  Record companies
should have seen this coming.  For too long, music fans have had to pay
top dollar for cds when compact discs are cheap to procuce--cheaper, in
fact, than vinyl lps ever were in the 70s...In a way, Napster is
nothing more than a high-tech version of cassette swapping.  So it's no
wonder Napster has become hugely popular among college sutdents,
slowing unviersity computer systerms to a crawl.

As a result, universities across the country...have blocked Napster on
their campuses while they try to work out a solution.  College
officials have said the block is an issue of bandwidth and not
copyright laws.  Guess unviersities don't feel sorry for the RIAA
either.  I've worried that some fo my favorite major-label artists
wouldn't be able to produce any more music if no one bought their
cds...but then I remembered the argument that few artists actually make
a living off their cds.  Concerts make stars rich.  Accoring to a
recent ENTERAAINMENT WEEKLY report, cds are merely promotional tools to
get the kids to the shows.

Still, when I heard that Metallica--a rock group that lost it's cool
with it's target audience thwo cds ago--had filed a lawsuit in US
District Court in CA against Napster, Inc., I was alarmed.  The band
alleged copyright infringement, unlawful use of digital download
software and violations of the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt
Organizations Act...Yet the courts are not likely to strike down
technology just because it has potentially illegal uses.  That's like
banning cassette tapes just because people are recording copyrighted
cds.

Napster denies it infringes copyrights. Fanning [the builder] has said
he wanted the company to provide an avenue for underground artists. 
And Napster argues that it's protected from prosecution because it's
essentially an internet service provider--a conduit of data that
doesn't store illegal files and isn't responsible for the actions of
its users.  
The Napster feast may come to an end if enforcement increases.  As of
May 1, the No Electronic Theft Act (NET Act) makes anybody using
Napster, Gnutella or any file-swaping program criminally liable for
willfully making copyrighted files available for download. 


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