| Napster is a company that distributes software that allows the transfer and download of mp3 files. Mp3’s are data files that store music from music compact discs in a small size. They are very popular in today’s music and online community. Record companies and a few popular bands have charged Napster of copyright infringement and music piracy. They are being charged with these crimes because illegal mp3’s, which most are, are being swapped without a cash charge. The bands and record companies believe that Napster is detracting from their overall record sales. The Napster mp3 swapping software was released in early 2000, since then it has received massive amounts of media attention and popularity. I feel that Napster is a great program that allows me to download any song I would be interested in hearing and if I liked the band enough I would probably buy the record. So I think in the long run, the record companies and bands would sell even more records than normal.
Even though most mp3’s are illegal I think that people will still download and distribute them. Mp3’s are legal if the receiver of the file owns the same record from the same author, but most of the time this isn’t the case. Since Napster is supporting the transfer of illegal software, Metellica and Dr. Dre sued them. Both Metellica and Dr. Dre didn’t believe that allowing their music to be downloaded for free was preventing them from receiving royalties.
With the few legal mp3’s that you can download, at a cost, from websites like mp3.com they can then easily be transferred illegally to other people. So the record companies have come out with this new idea called, SDMI, it is a form of encryption that would allow the mp3 to be only listened to on the computer it was originally downloaded onto. It would also limit the amount of times it could be copied before deleting itself. SDMI stands for Secure Digital Music Initiative. This form of encryption is a major controversy in the online music community. Most of the listeners and distributors are against it while most of the record labels and bands are for it.
SDMI is a forum of about 200 companies whose goal is to develop a voluntary, open framework for playing, storing, and distributing digital music in a protected form. SDMI participants include music content, consumer electronics, information technology, and wireless telecommunication companies. SDMI's work is based on the core principles that copyrights should be respected, but that those who wish to use unprotected formats should be able to do so. The specification developed by SDMI will answer consumer demand for convenient accessibility to quality digital music, enable copyright protection for artists' work, and therefore enable technology and music companies to build successful businesses.
I think that Napster is very fair to the consumer. We get free music and an infinite amount of time to download as we please. We then can decide whether we should purchase the album, download more songs, or just delete them. But I think that it depends if it is fair for the other side of the spectrum. Most record companies oppose the idea of free trade of their money. Bands on the other hand are mixed. Some of them love Napster because it helped spread their popularity, while others simply hate it, and only see it as a loss in their own pocket.
Even though trading mp3’s is illegal to do, I think that if the government shuts down Napster, there will always be another group of people that are willing to bend the law and allow people access to the mp3’s. I also feel that the distribution of the files has brought the bands more success and popularity that they wouldn’t have if it weren’t for Napster.
Bibliography
http://www.savenapster.net
http://www.napstermp3.com
http://www.sdmi.org
http://www.zdnet.com
http://www.cnn.com
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