Napster Research Paper
Napster: Revolutionary Program or One-Hit Wonder? Illegally copying and distributing copyrighted material is against the law. This law is widely known, but rarely enforced. However, in recent months an Internet program called Napster has come under fire for aiding in the illegal distribution of music. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), representing 18 record labels, has sued this California-based company for copyright violations. The controversy surrounding Napster is that the program itself does not illegally distribute copyrighted music. The people who use the program are the ones responsible for this illegal distribution. Another problem facing Napster is that universities around the country are beginning to block the program because it takes up too much bandwidth. Despite these problems Napster continues to go strong, adding new users every day. What will be the future of this hot new company?Napster is the nickname of its creator, 19-year-old Shawn Fanning. Fanning wrote the program and obtained a large cash donation from a family friend. This donation allowed him to quit college and move from Harwich, Massachusetts, to San Mateo, California, to start a company with two of his friends. That w
Marketing vice president Elizabeth Brooks says, "We are a freeware company, so we get the whole free music vibe. Proell, communications director for Saint Cloud State University in Minnesota, "We found that, on average, that particular program was using 10 to 40 percent of our campus Internet bandwidth. It was reducing the speed and reliability of our Internet services, which is something that's felt by everyone on campus - students, staff, and faculty" (McCollum A50). Perhaps the company will never even make it that far. The lawsuit comes down to whether or not Napster is held liable for aiding in the illegal distribution of copyrighted music. However, MP3's condense these CD files all the way down to 4 to 6 megabytes without losing sound quality. Obviously, they will need to find a source of revenue if they are to survive as a company. All we're doing is being an index for a certain kind of file format" (Cohen 41). Secondly, Napster does not actually control any of the music its users share. " The Chronicle of Higher Education. In fact, the music never even passes through its website. Despite the controversy surrounding the program, its user base continues to grow by as much as 25 percent everyday (Cohen 41). Perhaps the biggest obstacle Napster has yet to overcome is the same problem that faces all new companies.
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