Feelings on Napster?

Being a user of several on-line music houses, a FM Stereo listener, an Audiophile, and have an extensive knowledge of computing..... There is no reason that napster couldn't put standard copy protection algorythms to keep people from putting the information on CD. EMUSIC.com does this with promotional tracks! I think this is a perfect example of greedy people not taking the steps with technology to protect their investment. I can record music on CD from FM Stereo in complete album form, and get better info on a CD or tape than MP3 or other compressed formats. Is anyone stopping the play of complete albums on FM, or even complaining about it?? NO... Analog is a thing of the past in mainstream, but is still better format to those that have a good way to capture it.. I have recordings of the aforemention means, but I do not sell or distribute... and when I find an artist's recording that appeals to me, I buy the thing so the artists get their $1.50 and the supply chain gets the other $12+ in most cases. In return, I get the info that comes with the music, and usually a better recording. So, to me the only thing this is doing is limiting an option I have to expose unfamiliar music choices. I am not going to the record store and making selections that I am unsure that I will like. Thanks to all of those who don't follow the rules, or that are so insecure that they have to worry about getting ripped off... They will be the ones that will eventually lose in the long run anyway, no matter what they do. Closing this small leak of media is not going to do much in the scheme of things... there are plenty of ways to copy media in digital form without napster -- the honest will buy, the copyright infringers are not going to be phased by this...

Mr. grid_lock: I too find no sense in the "fair use" arguement. I completely agree that as the rules are now written (even more so today than yesterday), using Napster is against the rules. However, I'm arguing a more fundamental point. The rules, the large majority of which are written by people protecting their bank accounts, need to be changed altogether. Complete revamp. It's a philosophical point. You can argue that it isn't practical or that "that's the way it is in America so suck it up", I can respect that though I may disagree. I do not understand people who cannot see the larger picture however. I will continue to applaud any effort to resist the rulemakers when their rules are to the detriment of our society. Certainly, the alternatives are not clear, but they will become so as we progress.

Let's just be honest with ourselves here. That's all I'm saying against the whiners (not necessarily anyone here; there are several idiots at work who Don't Get It) who insist they're "sticking it to the Man."

Fine. Steal all you want. Let's just not use metaphors like "redistributing wealth" (or property, or intellectual property, et al.) when we're talking about stealing.

Even if it's from people you really don't like.

Issabre: I don't see the point you're trying to make. Everyone protects their own self-interests. That's the way we are. Artists, musicians, what-have-you need to make a living and none of them want to (or should) give away their work.

I don't see how obeying the Social Contract is to the detriment of our society. If you take someone's product they should be remunerated for it. It's called exchange: something for something.

People sitting at home and scarfing free MP3s are not exchanging anything for it. It's a one-way deal. How is that help society?

It's only helping people to lazy to go out and pay for the music they want. That's called greed.

And to those who use MP3s to audition new music and then buy said music are A) not violating copyright, B) operating within the spirit of the Fair Use clause and C) are the only ones actually helping the artists.

How is it that you can have so much space between your paragraphs, and we can't?

I only have one thing to say to Mr_Gridlock: Well stated. You can ghost write for me anytime. To everyone else: Yeah, what he said!