OFF: Napster update

[Rich Warren]

Damn Good Job I downloaded those 30 albums last week then ;-)

Rich W
----- Original Message -----
From: <DASLUD at AOL.COM>
To: <BOC-L at LISTSERV.SPC.EDU>
Sent: Saturday, March 03, 2001 1:06 PM
Subject: OFF: Napster update


> this seems pretty screwy to me; maybe later on today i'll punch in, oh i
> dunno, "stairway to heaven" and see what happens...oy...
>
> "<>"
>
>
>
> Napster Says It Will Block Copyrighted Songs
> Company Waits for Judge's Ruling
>
> By Michael Kahn
> Reuters
>
> SAN FRANCISCO (March 1) - Napster Inc., facing a corporate death sentence
at
> the hands of a federal judge, bought itself a brief reprieve on Friday by
> promising to block users from accessing some one million music files
covered
> by recording industry copyrights.
>
> Some industry analysts said, however, that the online music song-swap
service
> may still be singing its swan song.
>
> Napster's last-ditch effort to conform with copyright law came as U.S.
> District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel held a hearing on how to formulate an
> injunction which fans fear could put the it out of business.
>
> Patel ended the hearing with a promise to draft an injunction order "that
is
> workable and makes sense" -- but gave no indication when she might issue
it.
> Legal observers do not expect a lengthy wait.
>
> Meanwhile, Napster's vow to filter out copyrighted music files starting
this
> weekend sparked cries of protest from users, who have made the service
wildly
> popular around the world by trading everything from Chinese pop songs to
> Beethoven symphonies compressed into handy MP3 computer files.
>
> "Oh my God. I'd better finish downloading," said one Napster devotee
> scrambling to grab as much music as possible before the screening system
> takes effect.
>
> Napster's lead attorney, David Boies, said the new copyright protection
> system should allow the company to stay in business -- although many
industry
> analysts questioned whether Napster would still have the same appeal if it
no
> longer offers the world's top pop hits for free.
>
> "I think Napster will still be the best music service out there, (but) it
> will not be the same," Boies said.
>
> Napster's offer came amid some two hours of argument from its lawyers and
> representatives of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA),
> which has sued the Internet upstart on charges of facilitating widespread
> music piracy.
>
> Industry analysts said while Napster's move may have won it more time to
> negotiate with the recording industry, it did not mark a sure path to
> survival for the company.
>
> MORE MEDIATION SCHEDULED
>
> Although the two sides have scheduled more mediation next week, Napster's
> decision to play by recording industry rules could weaken its overall
> negotiating position while driving once-loyal users to other services,
they
> said.
>
> "I'm sure that Napster usage will be very high this weekend and it will be
> interesting to see the cat-and-mouse games as users try to get around the
> blocking schemes," said Malcolm Maclachlan, analyst with technology
tracking
> firm International Data Corp. "The main effect will be to grow usage on
other
> peer-to-peer networks like Aimster and Gnutella."
>
> Ric Dube, an analyst with Webnoize, said the recording industry would
likely
> continue to press for a quick injunction to make sure Napster agrees to
all
> of its terms.
>
> "Once the injunction is in place, these two sides could come together for
a
> negotiation," said Dube.  "Napster hasn't said uncle yet and the record
> companies need to hear before entering any discussions."
>
> The court battle over Napster's future -- involving everyone from the
> company's youthful founder to major rock stars and one of the most famous
> lawyers in the country -- is a defining case for copyrights in cyberspace
and
> could affect the way books, movies and all entertainment will be
distributed
> online for years to come.
>
> NAPSTER OFFERS TO POLICE ITSELF
>
> At Friday's hearing, Napster's lawyers said the company was racing to
perfect
> new software to filter out copyrighted material and hoped to reach
agreement
> soon with the recording industry on how to identify such material.
>
> "We have come considerably closer together on the issue of an injunction,"
> said Boies, who represented the Justice Department in its antitrust suit
> against Microsoft.
>
> Boies said Napster would begin policing itself by blocking access to some
one
> million files of copyrighted music over the weekend, with more to come.
>
> Most of activity on Napster involves the unauthorized trade of copyrighted
> material. But Napster says it is unable to identify which files are
> copyrighted and which are not, putting the onus on the RIAA to provide
lists
> of material it believes represent copyright infringement.
>
> Lawyers for the recording industry, joined in court Friday by lawyers
> representing artists Metallica and Dr. Dre, said they had already
submitted a
> list of some 5,600 song titles -- each of which could account for a vast
> number of separate files on the Napster system -- to be blocked.
>
> While the RIAA's legal team pointed out that serious questions remained
about
> how the new screening process would work, RIAA President Hilary Rosen had
> some rare words of praise for the online company, saying it was the first
> time Napster had sought to obey existing copyright laws.
>
> "We made a lot of progress in court today," Rosen said. "It is important
for
> me to give some credit to Napster today."
>
> Napster's service has attracted about 60 million users who swap songs for
> free by trading MP3 files, a compression format that turns music on
compact
> discs into small digital files.
>
> The major recording companies, represented by the RIAA, first sued Napster
in
> December 1999, claiming it aids copyright piracy and costs them billions
of
> dollars in lost sales. Patel issued an injunction on July, but a federal
> appeals court two days later stayed her ruling pending review.
>
> MAJOR BLOW
>
> The embattled service was dealt a blow Feb. 12 when a three-judge panel
from
> the appeals court ruled that Napster could be held liable for copyright
> infringement and that an injunction, which could essentially shut down
> Napster, was not only warranted but required.
>
> In its ruling, the panel ordered Patel to require the record labels to
> identify which of their copyrights were infringed on Napster. Friday's
> hearing was called to hammer out the details of how such an order would be
> implemented.
>
> In an effort to draw up a workable long-term business plan, Napster has
> embarked on a project with major investor Bertelsmann AG to develop a new,
> subscription version of its service, expected to be rolled out this
summer.
>
> The company has also offered the recording industry a five-year $1 billion
> deal to enable it to swap their music on a new secure service, but this
has
> drawn poor reviews from its main opponents, which include Vivendi
Universal's
> Universal Music, Sony Music, Warner Music and EMI Group Plc.
>
> Rtr 20:15 03-02-01
>