DISCLAIMER - I do not intend for this message to precede a debate on
copyright laws !
Anyone interested in the ongoing Napster debate may want to check the
latest news....
Part 1 - Metallica brought a list of more than 317,000 Napster usernames
to the company, alleging that each of those individuals had illegally
made the band's songs available for copying online. Napster says more
than 30,000 members have taken the company up on that offer, swearing
under penalty of perjury that they have been misidentified by
Metallica's online search. The company now will present those names to
Metallica, which will have 10 days to sue the 30,000 members. If the
band decides against taking action, the names will be reinstated. So
far Metallica has received appeals from 17,000 users.
Part 2 - 4,294 students at 10 New England colleges were polled and
58.5% said they would be willing to pay $15 a month for subscription
services. Webnoize analyst Ric Dube said "If the music industry could
embrace the Napster concept and get people to spend $15 a month on a
subscription basis, they'd convert some people who spend less than $10 a
month and could grow the music market,".
In short my friends this isn't about the rights of the artist it's about
the rights of the industry to make money - which I feel is valid -
unfortunately they are pointing out how unfair it is to the ARTIST.
Anyone who has ever released music on a major label will know that about
.30 cents actually makes it to the artist per average $15 sale for a cd.
It's not about the artist. It's about the industry. Once the industry
figures out how to get their 'cut' this will all be over..... They
probably couldn't give 2 shits whether the artists are getting their
royalties off the illegal trading of MP3's.
Part 3 - Napster may be making moves against NetPD and other companies
that would serve as copyright police. In the most recent version of its
software license, Napster writes that people may not use the program to
"invade the privacy of, obtain the identity of, or obtain any personal
information about (including but not limited to IP addresses of) any
Napster account holder or user."
Full Story Here.....
http://technews.netscape.com/news/0-1005-200-1888080-0.html?pt.netscape.fd.hl.ne
shimone
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