Quote:
Originally posted by Dagnabit
they are very obviously participating in and gaining from a massive conspiracy to break the law.
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I don't think that is necessarily true. Lots of mp3's were being spread around the internet before Napster. I think this kid at Northeastern just said, "Hey, there's got to be a better way to share or get mp3's." And, voila...Napster.
There were some rumblings going on before Napster got big...but this didn't blow up until Metallica blew a gasket over their "I Disappear" single being leaked. Then, the floodgates seemed to open.
Fedex has been delivering a lot of illegal packages. The law requires that if your package is not actually urgent, an overnight delivery service can't deliver it -- it has to go via the US Mail. Fedex encourages the use of Fedex for non-urgent delivery. Fedex is participating in and gaining from a massive conspiracy to break the law.
Really? Wow...I have never heard of that. So, are we just talking FedEx, or is UPS involved as well? My previous employer shipped everything UPS, except to Alaska, Hawaii, and US Territories. The reason they used UPS: Because trying to claim lost or damaged packages through the Post Office is a pain in the ass. UPS was easier...and delivery times here in the Northeast were better than with the Post Office.
Individuals are knowingly breaking the law; Napster is conspiring to break the law; the entertainment companies are just seeing their comeuppance from years of behaving badly; the government is too dunderheaded to work out better and different copyright schemes; law enforcement just does what's easy and what it wants to do.
My question is this: If I decide to borrow a CD from a friend and make a tape recording of it...is that against the law too? For all practical purposes, yeah, it's against the law. But to me, that is essentially what Napster is about. There have been double tape decks for years...and now you have CD burners, which are essentially the same.
So if I use Napster and find that I like something, I go buy it, even if I can get the entire album via mp3.
I feel the same way...and this is what the stats are currently showing--the music industry and their retailers are not losing a helluva lot of cash off this...not yet at least. Their losing more money through CD sales at Best Buy than Napster, I would imagine. And Best Buy is the main one losing money...they sell the CDs cheaper so that you'll buy an expensive stereo or refrigerator. Not to mention, Bertelsmann (one of the Big 5, who now owns CD Now) has a sizable stake in it.
I'm also curious as to WHO exactly is using Napster. After all, CD prices in the rest of the world are generally higher than ours. A new CD in the UK runs about $20+. The most I've seen them here in the US is about $18.99.
I don't have the HD nor a "good enough" computer to try and make my own CDs anyway. Screw it...I'll go to Tower and buy it.