Comments on: Comments on 2118

Post number 2118

aaron — Tue, 13 Jun 2000 23:10:13 -0800

Napster's screwed: Internal NapsterCo email and documents show that they intended to be a copyright-infringing pirate haven from the very beginning. Should have used PGP, kids!

By: ZachsMind

ZachsMind — Wed, 14 Jun 2000 06:53:46 -0800

Nope. If they get good lawyers this won't affect them in the least.

By: solistrato

solistrato — Wed, 14 Jun 2000 07:29:08 -0800

Considering Napster's repeated missteps, I wouldn't trust them to hire good janitors. One would think that after the Microsoft antitrust trial that people would just SHUT UP on email. I mean, if Billy Boy can fuck up the world's largest software company with a few candid emails, then surely two twits from Massachusetts can hose themselves by bragging about repeated copyright violations. But wait. Maybe this was their strategy all along. Break the law in such a flagrant way and let the genie out of the bottle. Now they can look squarely at the RIAA and say, "It's out. Now you can either fight it and get screwed in the end, or work with us to get everyone up to speed." There *is* a revenue model out there. I mean, heck, I'd pay a decent fee to have access to all that music. No skin off my teeth.

By: esquilax

esquilax — Wed, 14 Jun 2000 09:00:33 -0800

A silly question most likely, but how did *they* get hold of the emails, and are the contents admissable as evidence in court?

By: hobbes

hobbes — Wed, 14 Jun 2000 10:54:03 -0800

They probably broke into the machines or maybe the ISP keeps a log of the stuff...

By: bryanboyer

bryanboyer — Wed, 14 Jun 2000 11:58:47 -0800

It seems to me that the emails quoted were from before Napster was a company. They way they were described in the article made them look more like emails between the founding college kids while still at college...