Napster vs. Record Companies

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Napster vs. Record Companies The evolution of technologies associated with the Internet has had a great influence on our society by allowing its users to access a great variety of valuable resources without leaving the comfort of their home. Simply by connecting our computer to a server through our phone lines, we are given an endless choice of what to do with our time online. We could purchase items ranging from books and tickets to sporting events and concerts to electronics and clothing. We can entertain ourselves with pornography or just listen to radio stations in foreign countries. IT growth has let us; the computer users explore the infinite possibilities of the "Computer Age". Napster's instant popularity is due to its ability to spread musical files free of charge, reducing the need for CDs, it provides new artists with a huge audience, which is all greatly opposed by every major record company. Napster's proposition is simple: users download its free software, which indexes MP3 music files on the user's hard drive and makes them visible to other Napster users when connected to the Internet. From there, all it takes is a simple title or artist search to find other users from whom to download MP3 files. Users typically may find the latest hits through the free network, allowing them to download and listen to the music without paying. This lets the people all over the world obtain any song ever created from the Beetles to Eminem. For example, a little girl from Israel can download the whole N'Sync CD before its release date. Once she has it, she can copy it to an audiotape or a CD. Furthermore, she would be able to make an immense number of copies and either sell them in school or simply distribute them to her frie... ... middle of paper ... ...ted. Will there be a fee to use Napster? Yes and no. For the moment the Napster experience will remain exactly the same while we figure out the best way to structure an enhanced membership service and try to gain acceptance from other major recording and publishing companies. In the coming weeks, we will be asking you for your input to help us define exactly what this evolved service will be. Once we have come up with what we feel is the best solution -- based in part on your feedback -- we will announce our plans on our website and through the Napster software. We are confident that we can devise a system that will make everyone happy -- Napster users, artists and songwriters, as well as record and publishing companies. Our commitment to you is that once we have the system set, we will always make sure that the community knows exactly where the money is going.

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