Why Isn't My Napster Working?

Life used to be so much simpler. After a long days worth of schooling, Lunchable/Dunkaroo snacking and chatting it up on aim, you could kick back, log into this dainty little program called Napster, and in mere hours, download any Metallica song you wanted. Felt like "Riding the Ligting" or "Killin em all?" Shawn Fanning's P2P software made it all possible.

Actually, you could download just about any song you wanted, despite what Mr. Ulrich would like for you to believe. After sitting through a queue of users, that Japanese cover of Aqua's "Barbie Girl" was all yours. Score.

For the countless music/video junkies and misers scouring the web for free stuff, Napster and it's music only network naturally wasn't enough. Accordingly, programs such as Aries, Morpheus, Bear Share, Imesh, Limewire, and so may others were developed, all offering the ability to not only download music, but images, movies, games, and programs as well. And on top of it all, the amount of pron floating around throughout these programs was enough to make any and every 16 year old boy's dreams come true.

Looking back at it, God only knows how many computers were damaged by the abrupt flipping of the power switch because someone "thought they heard their mother coming."

The problem with all of these peer 2 peer programs is that they're far from legal. Downloading the song or movie of your choice completely compromises the integrity of the artist, stealing everything they worked so hard to create.

As Shawn Fanning's Napster began to blow up, artists like Metallica took to the courts, proclaiming copyright infringement. The ramifications would shake the e-world to it's very core.

"'This is not about Metallica versus the Internet,' said Lars Ulrich, the band’s drummer, on the band’s website. 'We know that the Internet is the future in terms of spreading your music to your fans, and we’re excited about that. But we want to control how that is done, just like we’ve always controlled what we make. We object to the companies that take the liberty of providing that access without asking us and Napster never came and asked us first.'" (http://www.thefalcononline.com/story/748)


"If it is determined that a person is guilty of copyright infringement, penalties could include a court order to stop producing that item, confiscation of the items, and paying the owner of the copyright any profits you received (or could have received) as well as attorney fees." (http://www.lostquilt.com/CopyrightInfringement.html)

To protect an artists' work, but to also accommodate the publics good intent/interest, we need to continue along the path that programs such as iTunes are paving, while also providing sites online where music and or videos can be streamed, but not downloaded, for free.

With iTunes, any music fan can search for and download the song of their choosing, all the while paying a dollar for each track, awarding the artist who created said track. After Napster was deemed illegal, Fanning turned it into a pay service, but it wasn't until Apple took over and created iTunes that this new area of online MP3 purchasing exploded.

iTunes isn't just limited to music and video. Schools such as the University of Stanford offer courses, faculty lectures and interviews as well within it's Apple set boundaries.

In regards to previewing and streaming music online, sites like Myspace and Purevolume, allow fans to listen to a few songs from the band of their choosing, that is, if that band has a site within the community.

With the recently created VictorMe 2.0 online service created by none other than Victory Records, fans can stream entire discographies, but only that of those on Victory Records.

"Along with real-time news updates, tour info, band discographies and photo galleries, VictorStream 2.0 now boasts the ability to create your own music playlist."(http://www.victoryrecords.com/index_ad.php)

If other labels decide to follow in Victory's footsteps, it would be a Godsend to fans who wanted to listen to their favorite band online. And since they wouldn't be taking the songs with them offline, it would be completely legal.

We're currently living on the fault line between e-revision and eliminating online piracy or succumbing to it. So many torrent sites have been taken down, yet so many still exist. If executives were smart, they'd follow the iRevolution and provide every possible song for a small price to those who want to purchase them, and a place to listen to them for free and create buzz and excitement about a band without compromising their integrity and legality.

God only knows which direction we'll go in, but if I can't stream the new Miley Cyrus album for free and then decide whether or not I want to buy it, I'm gonna be pissed.

Post Script: Don't deny it Lackaff, you know the next time we hang out, you will redeem yourself, your heart can't rest til then, oh woah oh oh oh, you cant wait, to see me again.