Napster: Why it should be legal
More than 25 million people have used Napster in less than one year of operation. It took America Online over 9 years of mailing out start up c.d.'s and other publicity ideas to have that many users. Napster has become the most popular computer software ever made. However, as the majority of you are aware, there is a lot of unnecessary controversy going on with it caused by greedy musicians and record companies. Napster is not illegal. It does not violate any copyright laws, nor does it deprive musicians or record companies of profits. More importantly, Napster and sites like it must be allowed because they represent a revolutionary peer-to-peer file sharing system that could improve computers and the Internet forever.Throughout history, new technologies like Napster have challenged corporate comfort, but that does not make them illegal. In 1984, movie companies tried to sue Sony for making VCRs. Their number one argument was that they believed that if people watched movies at home, they would not go to movie theaters. For this case, the court decided that as long as technology like a VCR has substantial legitimate uses, it could not be banned. VCRs obviously did not hurt the movie business because it is bigger than ever.
While Napster is a great program with many fun and legal uses, it is in no way responsible for the music sharing. In fact, the music never even passes through the website. The songs are transferred via various Windows protocols directly from user to user. In other words, it allows computer users to exchange files directly. Only the index and directory reside on the central server. While inventing the code for Napster, Shawn Fanning described his future idea as "A program that would allow computer users to swap music files with one another directly, without going through a centralized file server or middleman." This is exactly what he created, a program where no copyrighted material is ever in Napster's possession. been developed after having seen the legal issues Napster is facing, so the programmers made sure to avoid any flaws that would make their programs controversial. As rapper Chuck D said "Trying to stop file sharing over the Internet is like trying to stop the rain," and it is. The most important reason Napster cannot be shut down is because it is the first model of a new system called peer-to-peer. Before this system, the only way a song could be downloaded was by a series of time consuming downloading processes and uploading processes and was always taken off websites and other company owned places. However, this new technology invented by Shawn Fanning m
Some common words found in the essay are:
Shawn Fanning, Chuck Trying, America Online, Music Internet, Boise Napster, Freenet Napster, Recording Act, Sony VCRs, VCRs Napster, Napster CD, record companies, musicians record, musicians record companies, copyright laws nor, laws nor, computer users, napster shut, files directly, shawn fanning, rapper chuck, violate copyright laws, copyright laws, peer-to-peer system,
Approximate Word count = 929
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
|
