Napster Essays -- essays research papers

Napster The Debate Over Copyright InfringementIn early 1999, Shawn Fanning, a Northeastern University freshman, created Napster software. That summer he made it available for free through his Napster.com website. Napster is a peer-to-peer technology, which makes it possible for substance ab partrs to freely share their medicinal drug files through the internet with different users all over the world. Specifically, this is how Napster works1.)A user sends a request for a song.2.)Napster checks its database of music to see if the song is on the PC hard-drive of another Napster user whose computer is turned on (Note No music is stored onNapster servers).3.)Napster finds the song.4.)Napster sends the song in MP3 format to the user who requestedOn December 6, 1999 the record manufacturing sued Napster in Federal District homage for copyright infringements, and petitioned that court to shut down(p) Napster. On July 26, 2000 the judge issued a temporary injunction to shut down Napster, and the next day Napster appealed the ruling before the U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco. The following day the Appeals Court granted Napster temporary reprieve against injunction so they could progress review the injunction request. On October 2, 2000 the opposing parties presented their supporting arguments before the Court. The case was finally resolved on February 12, 2001 when a ruling by the District Court of Appeals upheld the original ruling that Napster was aware its users were swapping copyrighted materials. Subsequently, Napster was ordered to stop allowing its millions of users to swap copyrighted material without a fee. There are several ethical issues multiform in this case. First is the theft of the copyrighted music produced by artists who slang not given Napster the right to transmit their music. Secondly, is the right of Napster to provide a sure service to consumers, and how that right has been attacked by artists in the recording industry. There are, i ndeed, two sides to this story.The stakeh senior(a)s involved in this case are the artists, the recording industry as a whole, retailers, and consumers. All of these stakeholders are affected equally in this matter. The artists, recording industry, and music retailers face substantial loss of income if c... ...g they need to do, considering the investment in the company.Perhaps the best solution for Napsters dilemma is the possibility of a cable TV type payment. Users pay a certain monthly fee for all the downloaded music they wanted. They could chat with their favorite artists, get first claim on concert tickets, and browse possible downloads by genre. The new system would pay the artists their royalties and sell millions of older titles that at present are sitting in vaults because no stores will give them shelf space. This option has the advantages of cooperation between the music industry and Napster. Napster users will have the same type of service as they do now, with extras so they wont have to turn to no-fee options (Gnutella and Freenet). Music companies will be able to use the Internet for sales of all their merchandise. If music companies can package a better experience people will pay for it. In a late survey of college students more than two thirds of the respondents would be willing to pay for a $20 dollar monthly fee of a similar service. The only predictable disadvantage of this solution is the plausibility of the record companies cooperating in such an effort.