Goodbye Napster

I think its a damn shame. I've used Napster several times. I downloaded some Everclear tracks, mostly acoustic radio edits or live tracks that aren't available in any other way. I think that this is an acceptable use of Napster - heck, i wasn't even that big a fan of Everclear before i downloaded those tracks, i'd just heard a couple of their tracks and liked them. I now have seven Everclear CD's that i have purchased from Amazon.co.uk over the last 12 months. I'd say Napster was doing many artists a favour, airing their work to those who wouldn't normally have access to it, or been interested in it. Sure, there will always be those id10ts that insist on downloading 100's of MB's of music and its those same people that have ruined Napster.

Personally i had a lot of quality issues with the stuff available on Napster - hell, i ended up downloading some of those acoustic tracks 10 or more times from different sources because some were just awfully encoded...

*** WARNING! CYNICAL SARCASM ALERT ***

Stealing music is stealing music, there's no grey area involved.

The sad thing is not that people do it or that people justify it. It's that the overwhelming MAJORITY of people do it and justify it.

Personally, I believe that intellectual property rights should be abolished -- in an ideal society. Unfortunately, we will never live in a society where that would be practical. So we are reduced to theiving off of people who are theiving off of us.

Ain't it great to be human?

P.S. Here's my justification -- I don't lose any sleep at night for stealing MP3s... their original owner still has 'em, and I wasn't gonna buy their CD anyways, so they haven't lost any money in the end, have they?

*** CYNICAL SARCASM ALERT OVER ***

I just hope some of you have show the same degree of magnanimity when your customers display the same 'appreciation' for your artistry with their computers or whatever other services/products you sell to make a living.

No artist ever ripped off a customer by selling her/his product (unless they didn't show for a live performance and no refunds were forthcoming). Did someone hold a gun to your head and make you drop $18 dollars for a CD? If you don't want to pay, listen to the damn radio!!! And if one artist distributes work for free, that means every artist's work should be free?!?!? And, the "It's ok to steal 'cuz I never liked it enough to ever paid for it" argument--Geez, then why would you listen to it in the first place??? Come on people, get a brain. The logic of these "I have a right to anything I want for free" is absolutely appalling!!!

Sowulo, I actually AGREE with you, the whole thing is appalling. Perhaps I wasn't clear enough.

What I was saying is that too high a percentage of the human race is more willing to steal than pay for something.

So what do you propose we DO about it?

Self-policing has obviously been a disaster. Declare martial law? Who trusts the government to regulate this properly? Should we let the corporations do it? Yeah, I definitely trust people like Bill Gates more than George W... okay, who else could we put in charge? The Pope? *snort and unprintable comment*

Awright, here's a suggestion: Let's start a movement to elect Scott President of the US, and all of the Moderators and Tech Gods his senators, congressmen, and other allies...

Seriously, I think that would work a lot better than any real solutions that will ever be attempted.

Quote:

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Originally posted by Wayward Clam:
So what do you propose we DO about it?

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We just did something. We spoke up and pointed out the flaws in people's justifications for thievery. No law will ever stop crime entirely but it can be reduced when the members of society in general support the purpose of the laws it creates....

Yes, I am an idealist in many ways....Often, I feel like Don Quixote, jousting at windmills, but damnit, I just couldn't face myself in the mirror if I didn't speak up when I believe something to be wrong.

Sowulo, don't ever feel ridiculous for standing up for what you believe in. There ain't anything else worth standing up for in this world.

First off, MUCH RESPECT to Scott, Windrivers and the MODs for always siding with the law when it comes to software and keeping the warez ****e to a minimum. After all, we are in the information industry, and this site and these forums represent an upstanding , professional community.

...that being said...

I am NOT IN the music industry, I do not WORK in or work for the music industry, and I therefore have no motivation to keep it legal for them, other than my conscience-- at present about as thin as my wallet. Sooo, I say f%*k it. If you are hungry enough to get the stuff for free, more power to you. David Geffen and Metallica aren't living the hard knock life on account of my couple of Gigs of MP3s (half of which are so poppy and hissy that i don't listen to them anyway).

Delete this if you guys want, but i don't give a rat's a$$ if it's legal or not. I smoke bud too, so my respect for the law deteriorates with inconvenience and differences of opinion with the laws (which in my country are MADE {YES!!! its TRUE!!!} by the same a%%hole corporations that are trying to keep Napster and my Pot away from me).

so F**K MetaLLica and all their stupid fans. I'll NEVER listen to those WANKERS again! I saw those pecks at Lolla a few years back- what a let down to boot.

And YES! I HAVE purchased music because I loved the MP3s so much that I wanted sound quality, artwork, and to show my 15 bucks worth of support for the arts.

We all have our vices. And if the worst thing somebody can say they've done is violated copyright law with a few MP3s, good for him, he ought to be cannonized.


Just my humble opinion. Why should I give a sh** about the music industry? Look what they did to Tupac after he died. A$$holes. Its all about the money...
All about the money.
The laws only exist to protect the label's money. Laws they bought with all their money.
AMERICA IS all about MONEY. And Metallica, buch of WANKS, are all about money, F**k 'em.

I love Dave Grohl...

I don't expect this post to last long, and if I piss anyone off, well, sorry. I had a long week.

I just love "situational ethics"...they're soooo convenient.... :p

Slash and burn your way through life..."I'll just obey the laws I agree with and to hell with the rest of you...." Thank god most members of society don't follow this code. We don't protect the rules regarding software copyrights, etc. because of the effects on our income, we do so because it's the right thing to do. Damning the music industry or anyone else for lawfully creating/generating income while advocating for the laws that protect one's own income is just naked hypocrisy at its ugliest.

If downloading music in MP3 format is "illegal", then handcuff me and throw me away. Here's my thoughts on Metallica... When Metallica first started, they used to play small clubs in LA, and the bay area. And during their performances, they threw out vinyl singles to their fans in the audience. Why did they do that? To gain exposure. So now that they got millions in the bank, things are supposed to be different? I don't think so. By the way, when I say Metallica, I'm actually just referring to Lars (not James, Jason, Kirk, or even Dave Mustaine or Cliff.) Lars is just a greedy little evil mini-me. Again, I say,... it's not the people downloading music that's ripping them off, it's the record industry. I've seen Metallica 7 times ($30.00 each time), owned about that many concert tee's (another $25.00-$30.00 each time. And by wearing the shirts means I'm giving them free advertising as well), and own all their music on cassette and CD. I've been a fan since the "ride the lightning" days and now they're telling me I can't listen to their music in MP3 format? SCREW THAT!!! And SCREW THAT to all related greed mongers. And wake up and smell the coffee to all those who are all sensitive to this "stealing" thing as you call it. It's not "stealing" at all. Is it "stealing" if you hear the song for free on the radio? And to those of you who are so sensitive to this,... You can't tell me that in all your years of existence, you've never owned a blank tape or CD with copyrighted material on it. Just go look in your VHS, CD, and/or cassette collections. I'm sure you've got at least one or two copy's of someone elses property.

Cruehead, your MP3 collection is entirely legal if you own all their music. They aren't trying to ban YOU.

It's so sad......(shaking head in amazement....)

I posted about the RIAA stopping the release of a research project from Princeton University, Xerox, and some other school about the Napster and music sales. RIAA threatened a lawsuit against all involved if they would release it because it damages the cause of the RIAA. I assume the RIAA was shocked to find out that Napster is a good thing and find more capitalistic reason to obtain this company for themselves! (Why was BMG so quick to join Napster?? Why they still suing them? ....In case all present clients leave when it's a pay service?)

Firstly, the bulk of the music isn't "intellectual," like Britney Spears and N'Sync. Property I can understand, but I hate to see the word "intellectual" in front of that kind of music (there is plenty of intellectual stuff avaliable somewhere).

To me, Mapster isn't theft. It's along the same lines of making a tape/CD/MD for someone, except you've got worldwide friends. I use Napster because I've burned CD's for friends, made tapes, bought albums after I've heard them on Napster (I was reassured that the remainder of the album wasn't junk). It's great quality control too! Remember those wonderful 80's bands with all their songs written by old men with smoking jackets and Playmate wives??? The first track was great but the rest were worth a fart in a cup! Hmmmm....yet we all paid 17 bucks (or your currency) for lousy ONE song. It appears record companies can't throw trash out like they used to! (Why the Backstreet Boys around so long??)

If someone makes cassettes, CD's etc... for friends, family, whomever.... or maybe someone received a cassette, cd, whatever.... and this is "legal piracy" then when why are these people so harsh on Napster?? (when I say "legal piracy" I mean it's sorta legal, but it's not....hmmm....it's like you do it but no one cares) Really, unless you've never made a copy of anything for anybody you can call Napster theft, but I don't see many people in this category if any. Just because capitalism needs to be everywhere, there exists this present litigation and wonderful chicanery.

As you can tell I love Napster. I never would have heard of Tripmaster Monkey if not for Napster. I've many albums because of Napster. I am almost certain that this fight over Napster is not for protection of copyrighted works, or lost profits. It's to monopolize the online music market...... Oh by the way I'm gonna send a letter to whomever deals with monopolies because University bookstores have a stranglehold on students. My school filters out Varsity books, etc... or whatever these textbook sites for out of their cpu system. They in turn charge you 15 bucks for a 60 page notebook that has some extra stripes on the paper and 150 bones for a crappy textbook I don't even want! Off the soapbox now.....too many suds!

-aa :mad:

I used napster to try before you buy!

I can buy and return virtually anything but recorded material. Who are the crooks?

I own all the original music that I have the MP3's for. The MP3's that I downloaded of albums that sucked I deleted. They usually pop up on compilation or soundtrack CD's. Besides with all the used CD stores I happily pay $6-8 for my CD's

Personally i'm not opposed to buying cds. But I like having the alternative to download the songs i wanna hear. I couldn't buy the cds that make up my mp3 collection in a million years for two reasons, 1) i have a LOT of stuff and 2) about half of it you wont find in any stores. So, why pay for the one song on a cd when the rest is junk? If i like an artists i'll buy their cd. But if they have a song i'm gonna like for about a week i'm not gonna drop $20 for it. But, if I did I couldn't afford then 2 cds a week. So why should I pay for something I couldn't/ wouldn't buy in the first place. I used to buy the one hit wonders back before there were mp3s but after i always felt cheated and ripped off. (maybe i should have sued the recording industry) :)

Man, I hate getting involved in another Napster debate, but what the hell, it's been a while. Note that when I refer to "me" in this argument, I'm just using the 1st person perspect, not myself specificly

First off, piracy and stealing are two entirely different crimes. Stealing is me walking into Sam Goody, cutting the security band around a CD, and smuggling it out under my coat. Piracy is me sitting at home downloading MP3s.

Now, both methods give me what I want - free music. By stealing, I took it to the extreme - I physically took something that didn't belong to me, and because of my selfishness, Sam Goody, the artist, and the record label all suffered. Because I stole that one CD, it will never be able to be sold. It's mine now, and I didn't pay for it.

But by pirating the music, I just made a copy. I didn't actually take anything. That CD is still sitting in Sam Goody for some poor schmuck to buy. Granted, SG, the artist and the label didn't make any money - but they didn't LOSE money because of me either. I wouldn't have bought their lameo CD anyway.

So, look at it like this - piracy is assault and battery. Stealing is murder. Both are crimes, but I just getting tired of people referring to Napster as "stealing music". It gets old and tired after a while.

No, I don't have any justification for piracy of music. But if I'm going to do it, then I really don't need to justify myself anyway.

Okay, with that said, back to regular, good ol' Cobra.

I have a good-sized music collection. I own outright about 600 CDs. Do the math - at about 50 minutes a piece (just a nice, median figure) x 600 that's about 30,000 minutes of music. Divided by 60 minutes in an hour, that's about 500 hours of music.

My WinAmp playlist weighs in about 550 MP3 (relatively small) with a grand total playing time of 21:36:19. As you can see, I pay for a lot more music than I "steal". And let me also point out that ALL of my MP3s meet one of the four following conditions.
A) Never been released on a studio album (Hey, I would've bought "Aerosmith: Unplugged" if someone had the brains to put it on CD).
B) Be something I already own. (I used to rip them myself, but getting DSL made me very, very lazy)
C) Be uncopyrighted. Lots of upcoming bands don't have contracts yet, and just want exposure. Napster gave it to them.
D) Be out of production and impossible to find in stores anymore. Sorry, I don't do the Ebay thing, and I'm don't buy used CDs. Besides, even if I did buy used CDs, that means that Sam Goody/Artist/Record label aren't getting any for for that either, so that's right back to the whole "taking food out of Lars Ulrich's starving kids' mouths" thing again.

Anyway, think what you will. It's just that to me, Napster was a great service. I hate to see it go, because it was cool to be able to "try before you buy". Too bad the record labels couldn't have worked out a compromise, and saved Napster. I would've gladly paid a membership fee to continue using it.