The Napster Controversy essays

The Napster Controversy essays A year ago, the only people who knew the name Shawn Fanning were his friends, family, and college professors. This year, he's been written about in magazines, appeared on television, and can be recognized by his nickname, "Napster." Fanning created a program that allows users to download software that enables them to search for particular songs, and then, download them to their computers. This program, Napster, has gone under a major controversy that affects many people around the world. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has sued Napster, claiming the website and Fanning's program are assisting the theft of intellectual property. Dave Mathew from the Dave Matthews Band, referring to his bands recent Featured Music Promotion with Napster, stated, "Napster: It is the future, in my opinion. That's the way music is going to be communicated around the world. The most important thing now is to embrace it, and that was the spirit by which we did this co-promotion. Napster is the world's leading file sharing community. In terms of users, the Napster site is the fastest growing in history. Napster claims more than 50 million users (Stepp, 2001). Napster's software application enables users to trace and share media files from one convenient, easy-to-use interface. In addition, it provides media fans a forum to communicate their interests and tastes with one another via instant messaging, chat rooms, and Hot List user bookmarks. Since the beginning of Napster, album sells have increased. So, why are the music industries complaining? (Napster, 2001). Federal appeals court ruled on February 12, 2001, that the music-swapping service Napster must stop trading in copyrighted material and may be held liable for "vicarious copyright infringement." As said by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Napster, must prevent users from gaining access to copyrighted content through its lists of songs archived b...