| With new advances in technology come new problems the American people never dreamed of dealing with in their lives. The Internet is one of these advances that has left humans wondering what to do. No laws written hundreds of years ago have the answers and neither do the people who invent the technology. Children are being stalked on the Internet by adults claiming to be kids, music is being stolen from the record industries and musicians, people’s personal information is being hacked from their computers and their lives destroyed in the aftermath, and big companies are being forced to shut down for days because of people breaking into their systems and deleting information and files. After a few years of prosperous Internet and technological development people are being forced to deal with the other side of these issues, are they ethical?
Millions of people love listening to music, however lately CDs have gotten so expensive that the average person is not able to afford them. With this new technology in our world comes a solution to these people’s problems; Napster to the rescue! Napster is an online site that people can join for free and swap music with other people. This music can easily be downloaded for listening or later transferring to a CD. Many people love this new technology because it allows them to get any song or CD they want completely free of charge. I have downloaded about 70 songs from this service and I feel completely comfortable with what I have done. However many people don’t agree with me and the many other people who use this site on a frequent basis.
There is of course the other side to this story that many people see as the only right side to the whole situation. Record companies, corporate executives, musicians, and record stores all believe that Napster and all of its brother companies are flat out breaking the law by allowing the general public to steal their product. Napster has been sued by many parts of the puzzle a couple of times over yet very little has been solved. Many people on both sides agree that this system is not the most ethical situation out there. But if Napster didn’t offer the program then someone else would. Napster just took what was already being done individually by people and made it easier, while in the meantime making a nice little chunk of money for themselves. This is where people have the biggest problem. Some third party is making all of the money from basically giving away some other companies product. If this was a problem with any regular company there would be no question, but since it is the Internet there is no set of laws that tells us what is allowed and not allowed. Therefore it is up to everyone to make up his or her mind and none of these people can see eye to eye.
The problem goes round and round and a decision has yet to have been made. Many people panicked in July when a preliminary injunction was filed against Napster. People crammed the system and tried to download any and every song they had ever heard of before. They then proceeded to save all of those files to their hard drives and then later burn them onto CDs. Soon after Napster was given a reprieve from another court that allowed them to stay online. Calm was once again restored and soon people were back to their normal everyday swapping of songs. One family that I read about believes eventhough they love Napster, they aren’t big computer addicts and just enjoy the average download of a song and free CD here or there. They don’t consider themselves to be stealing anything and believe that since nothing is being sold then the whole process is okay. Some say that since the previous court decisions concerning Napster have been overturned this problem could possibly go all the way to the Supreme Court.
Many colleges across the country have considered Napster illegal and have banned it from their school completely. This has affected many college kids across the country, despite the fact that they have found other means of getting their precious music. Kids at these colleges don’t believe that this is fair that they are forced to give up the right to swap music because the colleges believe it to be unethical. This goes back to the issue of it being fair to all people and ethically right. We all know that this isn’t fair to the record companies or musicians because they are all losing money for every CD that is downloaded instead of purchased. The people who are getting the free music are as of right now getting the better deal. They don’t have to pay for any music and are able to get it at any time they want. Hopefully the new laws that may be put in force against Napster will allow the record companies and musicians to get some money from every song that is downloaded. Some plans for the future consist of a monthly charge to belong to Napster or a payment per song downloaded.
Within the past couple of weeks Napster has been bought out by a company by the name of Bertelsmann Inc., which owns the BMG label. Only a few months prior BMG was suing Napster for alleged copyright infringements and says it will drop its lawsuits once a membership service is put in place. This would allow Napster to gain all of the music listed with BMG and be able to legally trade this music from now on. One of the ideas for the payment plan would be a $4.95 monthly charge to be a member, however that is just one idea. If Napster is able to make a go of this, then people would be able to sit back and relax. Napster would be here to stay for a only small fee every month.
With this new technology comes obvious problems, Napster being the poster child for all of this madness. There is nothing out there telling us what is wrong or right in this technological revolution and everything is up to a guess here and there. Some people believe Napster to be fair and ethically correct. Saying that if the music is there it should be free and available to the masses. But then there is the other side, Napster is wrong and it is a form of stealing. Despite the fact that we all want something for free in life no one wants to work for free. This is essentially what the artists will be doing if people continue to get free music from Napster. From the beginning Napster looked like a shaky deal and people began to be aware of the fact that you can't have your cake and eat it too. If we continue to get free music on the Internet people in the record and music industry will begin to lose their jobs. If this happens there will be no one to make the music and Napster will have nothing to swap.
Is Napster ethically correct and fair to all? No. That is obvious and that is the problem. But has that stopped millions of people from getting free music off the Internet? Once again the answer is No. Despite the apparent wrongdoings of Napster, people continue to swap music and will keep swapping music until someone turns the lights off on Napster.
Bibliography
1. Shutting Down Napster is Good, Lisa Napoli, MSNBC.com, July 27, 2000.
2. In or Out: Is Napster selling out or is BMG buying in?, Erica D Rowell, ABC.com Nov. 2, 2000.
3. Mp3.com Gets Ripped, Brad Stone, Newsweek, Sept. 18, 2000.
4. Fans Eagerly Await Napster Ruling, Lisa Napoli, MSNBC.com, Sept. 29, 2000.
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