Napster: Piracy or Public Right?

It all started in the dorm room of Shawn Fanning and Sean Parker. In May of 1999, these two freshmen in college became internet entrepreneurs by starting Napster Inc. Napster’s popularity grew exponentially until finally the recording industry noticed it. One December 7th, 1999, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) sued Napster in federal court in San Francisco for copyright infringement. Then on April 13th, 2000, the rock band Metallica joined the battle. They sued Napster for copyright infringement and racketeering. Two weeks later, famous rapper Dr. Dre also filed a suit against Napster Inc. In early May, Metallica p

As for the future plans of RIAA, it is really undeterminable. If they were intelligent, they would follow in the footsteps of Napster, and attempt to capitalize on the new medium through which people are getting their music. They might already being doing this, and this would explain the $100 million spent by industry leaders on investigation of how to survive via the internet. They need to realize that the answer is more innovation, not more laws. (Matlick) In the end, the new innovations in Internet technology will surely prevail. No law or amendment can stop the constant flow of information. Ever since the creation of the internet, it has been prided that there are no restrictions in cyberspace. Information is, after all, free. The internet just provides a convenient medium through which to transfer it. The sooner the RIAA and the artists opposed to file-sharing adopt the phrase “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em”, the sooner this entire controversy will smooth over.

Also, not all bands view Napster and it’s likenesses in a dark light. Some bands, like Green Day, openly support the service. To show this, Green Day distributed their first single off of their new album online for everyone to download and listen to for free. Limp Bizkit also showed their appreciation for file sharing by teaming up with Napster to organize a free concert in April of 2000. But what about the up-and-coming bands? They aren’t making money from concerts or merchandise. Napster helps them too, by offering a medium through which the aspiring bands can distribute their music to avid music fans and even to scouting record labels.

Now it is impossible to predict exactly where this ordeal will lead to. It may lead to harsh laws that restrict the freedoms of the Internet, but that is the worse case scenario. However, what can be said is what has already happened. Napster has

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