Mqurice, Free software to download music from Web; maybe some day, HDR will work on MP3 files anywhere we are.
Interesting of how companies will protect the royalties. FWIW napster.com
It is great if you have cable or DSL
From the Globe and Mail Dec. 23/99
----------------
Easy listening
Free software is making it a snap for
users to download music from the Web
- and nearly impossible for the
record industry to track them down
SEAN HOLMAN
Special to The Globe and Mail
Thursday, December 23, 1999
Nicole Tiesu is a die-hard music fan. But because of new software called Napster, she may never buy another CD.
The 21-year-old University of Victoria computer science student says Napster makes it easy for her to find and download compressed music files known as MP3s from the Internet.
"When I found out about the program it was like, wow. It's a very good way to share," says Ms. Tiesu, who has used Napster to download more than 300 songs. She later adds: "I think I'll be buying a lot less CDs and I might even buy myself a portable MP3 player."
She's not alone. More than two million people have downloaded a free version of the program, according to a member of Napster Inc.'s advisory board.
But Ms. Tiesu's musical feast is less digestible for the record companies that feel threatened by Napster and several similar computer programs.
"It's like leaving the world's biggest record store with the doors wide open and everybody helping themselves," says Brian Robertson, president of the Canadian Recording Industry Association.
The record industry has tried to control the spread of pirated on-line music by shutting down Web sites that store such songs. But software such as Napster cuts out the Web site middleman, giving users access to a huge on-line swap market, without ever handling the music files itself.
Instead of shutting down thousands of Web sites, the industry has to deal with the millions of individual computer users who might be sharing pirated tunes using on-line music sharing networks.
Making sound recordings for anything other than personal use without the permission of the copyright holder is illegal anywhere, even in cyberspace. The MP3 format allows people to convert their favourite songs into small computer files that can be easily distributed over the Net. While some songs are recorded for free distribution, a large number of MP3 files in circulation contain pirated music.
Napster representatives say the software is like an Internet index that simply puts MP3 users in contact with one another. But the recording industry calls Napster a "giant on-line pirate bazaar," and says it contributes to copyright infringement.
The Recording Industry Association of America sued the San Mateo, Calif.-based company on Dec. 6 in Northern California's U.S. District Court. None of the allegations have been proven but RIAA -- which represents giant music labels such as Sony Music Entertainment Inc. and Universal Music Group -- wants a permanent injunction to stop Napster from committing alleged copyright infringements.
"It's taking royalties from artists and songwriters and revenues from record companies. And it's such a pervasive process it has to be controlled," says Mr. Robertson of the Canadian recording association.
Still, concerns about the economic fallout from on-line music piracy are falling on unsympathetic ears, including those of Ms. Tiesu.
"I think it will impact royalties. But I don't feel sorry for the big music makers. They make enough money."
Dropout turns on, tunes in
Napster -- which the lawsuit accuses of creating "a haven for music piracy on an unprecedented scale" -- has humble beginnings. It's the brainchild of a 19-year-old college dropout who got his first computer 3« years ago.
"I had no idea that it would affect so many people and have such incredible implications," says Shawn Fanning from his office in San Mateo, Calif.
The name Napster, he says "actually stems from a nickname I was given in school. I let my hair grow out a little bit and it was getting curly and my friends said 'Your hair's nappy.' "
Napster representatives say they don't know exactly when the company will release a final version of the software but more and more surfers are making use of the free, downloadable test version available on the company's Web site.
That may worry the music industry, but Napster chief executive officer Eileen Richardson says the software is just a way of finding certain kinds of files on the Web.
"We are an index of where to find MP3s on the Internet, period," she says, adding that the company doesn't have the staff to check Napster's enormous network for copyright-infringing files.
She says her company will not be "the MP3 police, nor does the law require us to be." However, Napster recently posted a notice on its Web site that says it "will respond expeditiously to claims of copyright infringement," including disabling access or removing offending material, if possible.
When asked whether the majority of songs on Napster's network were copyright-infringing, Ms. Richardson said, "How would I know? We're only an index." Is the majority of the content on Yahoo copyright infringing? Who knows?"
(Yahoo Inc. does. The search engine does not patrol its directories for copyright infringing material. But company vice-president general counsel John Place says Yahoo abides by U.S. law and removes links to copyright infringing sites that are brought to its attention.)
Bill Bales, Napster's vice-president of business development, says each Napster network server -- a large computer that allows program users to share their music files with one another -- contains an estimated 1,500 users and lists 150,000 songs at any given time.
Mr. Bales declined to say how many servers Napster owns but John Perkins, a Napster administrator in Panama City, Fla., says the firm has "more than 20."
But how will Napster make money? RIAA says Napster is using its massive user base "to attract advertising and investment dollars." Mr. Bales disagrees. He says his company will not be posting advertisements on the Napster network.
The Napster advisory board member, Paul Schatzkin, says music sharing programs such as Napster could earn their revenue through user membership fees. In this model, a portion of these earnings could flow back to the recording industry.
The impact of Napster on record companies is huge, says Steven Jones, founder of the U.S.-based Association of Internet Researchers.
"With the addition of something like this . . . if I were in charge of the RIAA, I would start to put my energy elsewhere and not think about enforcing anti-piracy when it comes to MP3."
Prof. Jones, who also teaches communications at the University of Illinois, says that most people don't even think they're stealing music when they exchange MP3s -- instead they feel that they're simply sharing their personal music collections over the Internet.
The executive director of the Canadian Music Publishers Association points out that piracy is not a victimless crime. David Basskin says computer programs that help spread pirated music hurt musicians whose livelihood depends on record sales. "If you cut a hole in the bottom of that boat, inevitably what you're going to do is reduce the people that create because the creators have a dedicated commitment to eating on a regular basis," he says.
Mr. Robertson, who says Canada hosts the second-largest number of MP3 Web sites in the world, wants the Canadian government to update its existing copyright legislation to help stop the flow of pirated on-line music.
"You've got to have some teeth . . . the Copyright Act here is at least 20 years out of date. It's dealing with issues that were never even thought about 20 years ago."
Michael Geist, a law professor at the University of Ottawa, says the RIAA lawsuit is "a bit of a long shot."
Mr. Geist says U.S. courts have been willing to regulate certain forms of technology where they find the sole use is for illegal conduct. But he says there are plenty of legitimate MP3s around and the recording association is going to have to prove that Napster is used predominantly for pirated material.
At least three other computer programs with Napster-like music sharing capabilities are now available on the Internet. Cary Sherman, RIAA senior executive vice-president and general counsel, says the association doesn't want to shut down Napster, but hopes the lawsuit sends a strong warning.
"Napster is a wonderful model for what can be done to create music communities," he says. "But it should be based on authorized music where the artists have said it's okay for this music sharing to take place, not for someone else to be taking those decisions."
Last year, the major record labels launched a lawsuit against Diamond Multimedia Systems Inc. to prevent the company from marketing Rio, a portable MP3 player. That lawsuit failed but David Jones, a computer science professor at McMaster University, says it created an impression among young people that Rio was "illegal and I shouldn't buy it because it's going to be off the market and it's not going to be supported."
Prof. Jones says the same thing could happen to Napster. A successful lawsuit by RIAA could set a dangerous precedent for the Internet.
"If the recording industry has their way, then these intermediaries will have to become cyberpolice -- doing the dirty work for the recording industry," he says. "They would start censoring things to protect themselves and blocking the freedom of information -- which is what everyone in the old days of the Internet was all excited about in the first place."
Site seeing
napster.com
HOW IT WORKS
Napster Inc. allows users to access millions of song files on-line. But how does it work?
Users can begin by downloading a free copy of the program's test version at napster.com. Once installed, the software allows you to connect your computer to a Napster server -- a large computer that helps people share song files.
The program asks users to choose a directory on their computer that contains the music files they want to share. An index of the files in this directory is sent to the server each time you load Napster. The server adds this list to a song directory that can be searched by other users.
At this point, you can search for the music you want. Asking Napster to search for songs by the Beatles will bring up a list of files from users who have the band's songs on their hard drives -- and recently everything from Penny Lane to Strawberry Fields Forever was displayed. Then you can swap files with other users.
When you quit Napster, the music files on your computer are removed from the server's directory list until you run the program again. |
