Users Of The Napster Service example essay topic

Napster & Peer-to-peer File Sharing... A Crime?? Not According to the facts. Most people who have been paying any attention to the news have heard of an online service called Napster. Although Napster may have millions of members, many people have absolutely no idea what Napster is, or why it is the topic of so much controversy.

In recent months, the music industry has faced several pressing issues involving Napster. MP 3's are the real issue behind Napster. MP 3's are a computer file format that greatly reduces the file size of a track on a CD. Due to the compact file of the music, they can be easily transmitted over the Internet.

Once the files are stored on the computer's hard drive they can be played as many times as the user would like to listen to them. To add to the dissatisfaction of the music industry, peer-to-peer file sharing services, like Napster, have gained huge popularity in the last few years. The industry is trying to prove that Napster is hurting their sales, which causes damage to their business and is illegal on the basis of copyright infringement. If one were to look into this matter a little deeper they would see that this is not true. Napster and other peer-to-peer networks are legal and are protected under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. A peer-to-peer file sharing service has two main functions, one of which is that it provides Internet chat rooms and instant message services.

It also allows users to scan the hard drives of other users to search for an MP 3. Once the desired MP 3 is located the user searching for the file is able to download the file directly to their personal Grohs 2 computer's hard drive. When the user obtains the file, it then becomes search able and downloadable by other users. As more users download the same file, the odds of another user locating that file greatly increases, as more people on the network are offering it for download.

This makes the spread of an individual files move swiftly. The most popular of these services on the Internet is Napster. As Napster has gained popularity, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has sued the service claiming that Napster provides a safe haven for users to trade copyrighted material. The music industry believes there is a significant decrease in sales due to the existence of services like Napster and this causes substantial damage to their business. The statistics show that this is very far from the truth. Napster can (and has been) quite beneficial to the music industry.

Individuals who use Napster would argue that the music they have downloaded from Napster is often purchased later on a full length CD. Users of the Napster service often browse the music that is available for download, then listen to the music, and proceed to their local CD store or online music store and purchase the CD. They have had the opportunity to preview portions of the CD through the Napster service and enjoyed it enough to make a purchase. The Digital Media Association (DiMA) which is "an alliance of companies that develop and deploy technologies to perform, promote and market music and video content on the World Wide Web and through other digital networks" (1). DiMA Conducted a study of how music downloaded or streamed from the Internet influenced the decision to purchase a CD. According to an article posted on DiMA's website entitled "Study Shows Webcasters Drive Music Sales" fifty-nine percent Grohs 3 of people who have either downloaded or listened to streamed versions of music ended up purchasing the CD in a music store or other retail outlet (1).

The individual would purchase the CD for two main reasons; the first it is very difficult to download entire albums from any peer-to-peer service. Therefore, in order to be able to obtain the album, it must be purchased as a CD or cassette. The second reason, a bit more significant yet simplistic, the sound produced from the common MP 3 is quite inferior to the sound produced from a CD. The MP 3 file type, as mentioned before, is a compressed version of the music file used on CDs. If the most common compression rate of an MP 3 is used, the quality of that data is lost and this causes sound deterioration.

MP 3's are able to compress the file contained on a CD by removing or clipping portions of the data that creates sounds, resulting in deterioration. On this compressed version of the sound file, there is quite literally missing portions of data that would be on the CD, and because of this missing data an MP 3 cannot produce the same sound frequencies that can be created on a CD. Although MP 3's may have superior sound to cassette tapes, as cassettes wear out easily. Cassettes are by no means of comparable quality of a CD purchased in a retail store. In addition, CD holds a digital replica of the original studio recording. In light of this added benefit, people are still likely to purchase the music they have downloaded from peer-to-peer services.

Many individuals prefer the clarity of the music acquired by a CD. It would be unfair to ask them to settle for a lesser product. Napster is protected under the precedent of previous court rulings regarding new technologies and copyright infringement. In the "Sony Corporation of America ET AL. Grohs 4 vs. Universal City Studios, Inc., ET AL". court case, Universal tried to prove that Sony's Betamax Machine and technologies violated copyright law. The Sony Betamax was a machine very similar in functionality to today's videocassette recorders.

Universal claimed that the beta max was designed to make unauthorized copies of copyrighted material. The court determined that because the beta max was capable of being used for non-infringing purposes it could not be outlawed even if it was capable of being used for other purposes that would be considered copyright infringement. Napster does have permission from some artists to allow their work to be transmitted using the Napster online service. Therefore, Napster serves a legal non-copyright infringing purpose.

Artists are able to use Napster as a means of expanding their audience base. The Sony case set the precedent that applies to peer-to-peer file sharing technologies. Because peer-to-peer services and technologies such as Napster can be used for non-infringing purposes they cannot be banned or outlawed. More recently, legislation has been passed which dictates the responsibilities of online service providers in handling copyright law and its users. Napster has not denied some copyrighted material is transferred using their service. Napster argues that they cannot be held liable for this, as it is the responsibility of the users to act lawfully.

According to the Digital Millennium Copyright act passed in 1998, online services are not held liable for copyright infringement by allowing users to transmit information over the Internet. According to The UCLA Online Institute for Cyberspace Law and Policy's summary of "The Digital Millennium Copyright Act", "In general, limits Internet service providers from copyright infringement liability for simply Grohs 5 transmitting information over the Internet" (1). However, websites are expected to remove any material that is copyrighted from any other user's websites. Napster is an online service and is not a website. Napster simply provides a directory of locations the user can obtain a file.

All of the files are held on the users computers, not Napster's. Because of this Napster is unable to remove data from the user's computer, simply because that system does not belong to them. Therefore, Napster is not held for the content that users are transmitting, the users hold that responsibility. To say Napster is responsible for allowing users to transmit copyrighted material through their service is comparable to saying that America Online is responsible for users attaching files containing underage pornography to emails. America Online has no control over what their users attach to email anymore than Napster cannot stop users from transmitting copyrighted material. America Online holds a policy that forbids the transmission of underage pornographic material through their service, however AOL is not able to monitor every single email sent through their system to determine if it holds illegal content.

They expect their users to read and agree to their terms of service before using AOL. Similarly, Napster has a policy prohibiting users from transmitting copyrighted material through their servers. According to Napster's end user license, the users of the Napster service should be aware that some of the files being offered by other users might not have permission from the copyright holder to make that file available. It is the users responsibility to comply with all copyright laws and regulations (1). Users are expected to follow this policy, as they are required to read and agree to the Terms of Service in full Grohs 6 before creating an account with Napster. Napster has shown that they do enforce this policy, as they have banned users from the service when provided with a list of proven copyright offenders for the copyright owners.

The RIAA claims that any user partaking in the transmission of copyrighted material is in effect taking away from CD sales. The RIAA claims that the use of MP 3's can be damaging to their sales, and that this should be reduced as much as possible by shutting down Napster and other peer-to-peer file sharing services. However, in previous court cases, it has been determined that a piece of equipment cannot be outlawed because it can be used to unlawfully make reproductions of copyrighted material. If that piece of equipment can also be used for a completely legal reason it is serving a proper function. If this were not true, our world would be without photo copier machines, VCRs, or cassette tape players just to name a few. In turn, products used to make copies of music that you own couldn't be outlawed, because you have the legal right to make copies of that music for your own personal, non-commercial use.

For example, most Americans own a VCR and can very easily and legally copy a movie from cable TV or videocassettes you already own to watch whenever you chose. The RIAA would like you to believe that Napster is causing them to lose sales because Napster offers the same music for free, however the actual statistics do not show that is true. According to "ZDNet News - Napster numbers don't add up", "the RIAA cites a study conducted by Sound Scan, a unit of VNU Entertainment Marketing Solutions. According to the study, CD sales in general increased 19 percent between the first quarter of 1997 and the first quarter of 2000, while sales around the most high wired Grohs 7 college campuses declined 13 percent in the same period...

What the numbers the RIAA presented did not address is whether there's been an increase in online sales of CDs by college students, which might explain the drop-off in sales at nearby brick-and-mortar stores" (1). This shows that the use of Napster does not have an adverse effect on CD sales, but rather the sales have gone up overall. The RIAA itself is saying that CD sales are up, except around college campuses, but what they are not taking into consideration is that the college students that use Napster are much more likely to purchase a CD online, through a website such as CDNOW. com or Amazon. com. Students are more apt to use web sites that allow them to purchase CDs.

Napster users are already using their computers in their daily lives, and have a basic understanding of how the internet works, so rather than getting in the car and driving to the music store, they simply place an online order and have the CDs sent directly to their doorstep. The use of these services more than likely accounts for the increase in sales for online music stores because it has become a convenience to preview the music at home and purchase the music from home. According to "Wired News - Napster: Music's Friend or Foe?" Amazon. com's music division has seen a steady rise in sales. The company's 1999 fourth-quarter music sales climbed to $78 million, a 136 percent increase over the previous year's earnings, while year-end sales tallies $195 million" (2). In addition, "CDNow's first-quarter revenues in 2000 rose to $43.6 million, up 99 percent over the previous year. The company added 440,000 new customers" (2).

This clearly shows that while there may be a dip in sales around college campuses, online music sales are way up. This points to the fact that computer literate people who use Grohs 8 Napster are more likely to just go to CDNOW. com or Amazon. com to purchase their music rather than finding a way to get to a store to purchase it. What the RIAA doesn't realize is that Napster actually has the potential to help promote their music and make lesser-known artists become more popular, in addition to increasing sales on a variety of genres that do not get a great deal of exposure. Napster has such a broad range of music, and it is so easy for the user to access this music, the user has accessibility to different types of music or artists they have not heard on the radio.

This gives Napster users the ability to obtain more of the same types of music or more music from the same artists. They can then go to local CD stores, or online e-commerce sites to purchase the album in its entirety. If the RIAA worked with Napster rather than against it, it would realize that they could use the service to not only hold the high sales they currently have, but increase record sales. If the RIAA gave Napster a list of artists they would like to promote for any set amount of time, the service could then push that particular song or artist by integrating an advertisement for into their software.

This would allow the RIAA to let the public know about new releases, or new artists in a way they would be able to actually make hear a portion of the music before buying it. By the two organizations joining together marketing efforts would be alleviated and both organization would benefit. Work CitedPloskina, Brian. "Napster numbers don't add up". Interactive Week. 19 June 2000.

: ZDNet News 23 Sept. 2001. web Music's Friend or Foe? Brian King. 14 June 2000 web Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The UCLA Online Institute for Cyberspace Law and Policy. 10/28/2001 web "NAPSTER, INC.

END-USER SOFTWARE LICENSE AGREEMENT". Napster Application Downloadable file. 2001 About Us. Digital Media Association. 11 Nov. 2001 web Shows Webcasters Drive Music Sales Digital Media Association 15 June 2000 web Corporation Of America Et Al vs. Universal City Studios, Inc., Et Al. No. 81-1687 Supreme Court Of The United States.

18 Jan 1983, Argued. 17 Jan 1984 Decided.