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Music groups go after Napster's blood

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CIOL Bureau
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Having reached a settlement with MP3.com, the recording industry is now going after upstart Napster, a Silicon Valley company that lets computer users trade and download music from other users via its Web site. The industry is accusing Napster of ''facilitating music piracy.''

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While the company itself does not offer copyrighted music for download, it allows visitors to its Web site to use its software tools to search for titles on the hard drive-based music libraries of tens of thousands of other users. After finding a title, it can be downloaded easily in MP3 format and saved on the other user’s own hard drive.

Lawyers for the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the National Music Publishers Association (NMPA) this week filed for a preliminary injunction against Napster in U.S. District Court in San Francisco.

Company chief executive Hank Barry defended his company and the service it provides. ''Napster is a powerful tool, and I have no doubt we will win this case on the merits. This case is about whether it is legal to share MP3 versions of sound recordings over the Internet. We say yes, the major labels say no.''

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The outcome of the case is critical and will have major implications either way. The industry insists it is not trying to stifle the development or growth of MP3 usage or shut down Napster's business but to protect the copyrights held by artists and the labels. Napster was founded in May 1999. The record industry believes the company’s main mission is to foster widespread copyright infringement by providing the tools that allow rampant infringement over the Internet.

''There can be no doubt that Napster was designed for the purpose of facilitating piracy, and that Napster knows full well that its users are using its service overwhelmingly to trade pirated MP3.files,'' the industry



said in papers filed with the court. According to one recent study by Field Research among some 2,500 college students, there is a direct relationship between the increased use of Napster among the group and the declining amount spend to buy audio CDs. "Nearly half of Napster users describe the nature of Napster’s impact on their music purchases in a way which explicitly indicated or suggested that Napster



displaces CD sales,'' the Field study said.

Napster has become so popular on college campuses that many universities have banned its use because they believe the transfer of songs was clogging their computer networks. Napster's Barry, who admits that the company has not yet decided on a business model, declined to speculate on what impact an injunction would have on the company. ''I don't think it's going to happen,'' he said confidently.

Analysts said that even if the industry can stop Napster, many copy cast services are bound to spring up all over the world due to the availability of fully distributed information sharing software.

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