Feelings on Napster?

Hi Grumpy, I agree with what you say about swapping CD's between friends, etc. I think the idea here though is that Napster is making a profit. Someone's paying for the server space, the salaries AND their legal fees, right? I read a relevant article in today's paper about this very issue. It was a stance that the Greatful Dead has taken. We all know the Dead have always allowed people to record their concerts and have had one of the most "open" policies regarding music sharing of any established band. I think these brief comments may put the issue in more perspective: "Although the Dead officially remains neutral in the Napster controversy, the service violates a policy the band established a few months before the immensely popular Web site started last year. As digital audio files such as MP3 emerged as a viable format, the Dead reiterated its long-standing commitment to allowing fans to trade recordings of the band's 2,300 concerts. Under the April 1999 policy, though, the Dead declared that "no commercial gain may be sought by Web sites offering digital files of our music, whether through advertising, exploiting databases compiled from their traffic, or any other means." The reason is clear, why should a "service", such as Napster make a buck they didn't earn? They shoudn't, because it's wrong and it's theft. I think justice will prevail in the end but it's a shame Napster will be fighting it in court, paying the attorney's with money they never earned!!!!

C'mon people!! "Thou shell not steal..." is ANOTHER lie, you've being told! You've been "riped-off" by your employer, your dentist, plumber, garage mechanic, insurance agent, lawyer...ex wife or girlfriend, every day of your life!! And you are worry about some "poor" spoiled-ass rock "star", getting paid?

Napster Doesn't make money for the people who run it. Do you see any advertisements? NO. They make there money by getting hired to do other jobs and they get payed big time. Napster gave these guys a name and put it out there. Now everybody wants to use them for something. That's where they get there money. If they actually made a penny directly from napster say from ads then there is no way the judge would have been kind enough to allow napster to stay up. There arguments would have meant dirt because everybody would see that they would be using napster out of plain greed like the record companies greed. Also I would never buy most of the songs albums I downloaded anyway. there just one hit wonders. But when I find good stuff I'll buy the CD. I dicovered terry bozzio's music and I'm going to buy some of his cd's. I would have never known about his own albums if I didn't search his name on napster and get to hear what he does.

We don't "buy" properties like recordings or software unless our name is Gates, Verve, etc. In most cases a record company, software developer or individual retains the actual rights of ownership. What we pay for is the right to use a property within certain boundaries. Commercial use of these properties without paying an additional royalty, as well as unlicensed distribution to other users, even at no gain to ourselves, is generally disallowed by Federal statute. So, while they may not be breaking the law directly (and the courts will rule on this point soon), Napster and others like them, such as warez sites, do encourage their users to steal by facilitating their actions (the appropriate slang is "fence"). That makes them suspect of being an accessory to the crime. And it is a crime. My wish is that somehow an arrangement will be worked out so that samples of music can be legally distributed using a vehicle like Napster. Properly implemented it wouldn't cut into sales and could be a boon to the industry. But until some agreement is reached and the owners of the materials in question agree to the open distribution of their property I have to take the position that Napster is engaged in illegal activity or at very least encouraging it. With twenty years in the software business I've developed quite a negative attitude toward those that willingly steal others' work. If it's too expensive, don't buy it. But don't make up excuses about being wronged in the past and present to rationalize why it's OK. It's still theft and it's still wrong.

Fpeel well put.Stealing is stealing.