Feelings on Napster?

We don't "buy" properties like recordings or software unless our name is Gates, Verve, etc. In most cases a record company, software developer or individual retains the actual rights of ownership. What we pay for is the right to use a property within certain boundaries. Commercial use of these properties without paying an additional royalty, as well as unlicensed distribution to other users, even at no gain to ourselves, is generally disallowed by Federal statute. So, while they may not be breaking the law directly (and the courts will rule on this point soon), Napster and others like them, such as warez sites, do encourage their users to steal by facilitating their actions (the appropriate slang is "fence"). That makes them suspect of being an accessory to the crime. And it is a crime. My wish is that somehow an arrangement will be worked out so that samples of music can be legally distributed using a vehicle like Napster. Properly implemented it wouldn't cut into sales and could be a boon to the industry. But until some agreement is reached and the owners of the materials in question agree to the open distribution of their property I have to take the position that Napster is engaged in illegal activity or at very least encouraging it. With twenty years in the software business I've developed quite a negative attitude toward those that willingly steal others' work. If it's too expensive, don't buy it. But don't make up excuses about being wronged in the past and present to rationalize why it's OK. It's still theft and it's still wrong.

Fpeel well put.Stealing is stealing.

Let's make one thing clear. I am not against the concept of a Napster. In fact, I think that's the way we're all headed. Complile a favorite song list, downoad it to a flash chip the size of a pack of gum and throw it into your nearest MP-3 player. This will probably become so seamless it will replace radio some day. I think it is not an argument or an indictment of the technolgy but of the company's practice. This is akin to downloading all movies into a database(via individuals who own a digital copy of it) and allowing you to view on-line. This could well be the case in ten years or less! Is the argument then supposed to be; "Wow I like it on-line, now I'm going to buy a ticket and see it at the theater!" Or "I liked it, now I'm going to buy it on DVD"! I don't think so. Yes, we may be talking about songs right now, but think about the legal precedent it would set! And it wouldn't stop there. Do we really want more specialized laws - or more laws in general? That's what would happen if Napster wins this thing.

After spending the last 20 minutes reading ALL of these titillating posts, I'm just happy to see that Carl Eber and Issabre kissed and made up. It just gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling about being a modern day audiophile...I think I'll go buy some new cable now. It also made me miss Mr. Gridlock. Where'd ya go man? Your posts were dope.

I never kissed the dude, just realized I could kill more birds with kindness, than with stones. Ok, I didn't really realize that, I'm just a nice guy, as long as nobody attacks me. And if they do, Tom and the AG staff desperately want to see me lay down and take it (actually, they desperately want me off this planet...or at least out of their forum). Tom said if somebody verbally accausted him in person, he would "just walk away". He says a lot of things...I don't pretend to be a fully mature individual, and I am a "hothead", I admit that. But, the concept of "first blood" is not lost on me. You play idiot with dogging my "serious" posts for over a month, you get "got"...that's the way I play (and I'm not talking about Issabre). Anyway, I can't believe they let me back on this place, must have been another hacker, heh heh...............AND MY FEELINGS ON NAPSTER ARE THAT IT'S A PAIN, if you only have a 56k modem, and that most of what's on there has been read at 12X speed, and there's no way of knowing this until you dowload it for an hour (assuming there's no "transfer error"). A few files have been quite nice, from CD-R's on my CD50. Some don't even translate to CD, they either say they're 4 seconds long, or else they really screw you, and just burn silence on the CD-R, instead of a song. FREE MUSIC IS A PAIN....and that's why I like it! Sort of...