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Is this the end? |
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Of course not! Even if Napster must stop all music swapping operations, there will never be an end to this P2P (peer-to-peer) file trading. This is for at least 3 reasons. |
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First of all, the record industry has made it very clear that they are developing new ways to spread music on the Internet. They understand that Napster has allowed people all over the world to find new and upcoming artists as well as the older, more popular artists. What they don't like is the fact Napster is infringing on the copyrights of those artists' songs. |
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Secondly, more and more P2P music services are popping up everyday. Many Napster users have gone to other services such as Gnutella and Freenet. People are going to continue to use P2P technology and continue to find better ways to do so. As the survey the front page indicates, 62% of the people surveyed say they use Napster, and 26% of those people are always logged in. I'm sure if they do leave Napster, because they don't want to pay, they won't forget about the whole idea of getting free music off the internet. They will more than likely search for other music sites. |
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Thirdly, as the survey posted on the frontpage of this website indicates, people 42% of the people surveyed answered "yes, they would pay for the Napster service." So the Napster service will more than likely continue, even if they happen to lose a few users. |
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So, NO of course, if the courts rule against Napster, it won't be the end of music on the Internet. |
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But, a great way to avoid the whole MP3 ordeal is to swap CDs over the internet. There is this great new service from Swapit and MP3.com--trade CDs via CD Swapper. Once you register for the service, you receive a mailing label via email. Once you print that out, you can send in your old CDs and games--or the ones you don't want--and they will give you credit for other purchases. This may be a little slower than Napster's service, but it can be fun! For more information, visit www.swapit.mp3.com. |
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Before we end this terrific guide to the Napster Downfall, there is the other side of the story...the one that says Napster is right and the RIAA has no business in sueing them. |
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Actually, Napster is still wrong because they are contributing to copyright infringement, but...some of the things the record industry has said are not completely true and if the record industry possibly worked together with Napster, there could be endless amounts of money being made.
According to an article in PC Magazine, many of Napster's users have said they would be willing to pay up to $20 a month to keep the service. Assuming Napster doesn't lose too many of its 50 million users, and Napster were to charge an average of $10 a month--that's $120 a year--that's cheaper than buying 10 CDs a year--anyway, the service would be able to gross nearly $6 billion a year!
This amount is almost pure profit for the record companies to redistribute back to the artists and others involved.
For the record industry to say Napster has hurt sales is a little of the marker. True sales have been hurt, but only the sales of those one hit wonders, whose CDs are only worth the one hit single and not the price you paid for it. |
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