While Courtney pulled an Albini, Jeff handed out the bread. Are the peasants acting like emperors, or do they still want something shiny, aluminum, plastic, and digital? Debacle or cage, something's got to give (pdf). Alternatively, you can just roll your own.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane on Feb 4, 2007 - 32 comments

Remember Napster? Well, it's returned to its roots and is once again offering free music via a revamped ad based web-site. But according to their FAQ, you can only listen to any given song up to 5 times before you'll be asked to pay for it. Even though this equates to roughly 10 million free plays, in an age where BitTorrent is king, will this pay off for the company? Some say no, as the catches that come with this new system are just too many. But (for the moment at least) the share market is saying yes.
posted by Effigy2000 on May 1, 2006 - 38 comments

It's official: Napster sucks. The RIAA's newest sticky fingers wants you to download.
posted by the fire you left me on Oct 29, 2003 - 30 comments

The RIAA hit list. Are you sued or not? I would have thought defaultuser@kazaa would get targeted.
posted by srboisvert on Jul 23, 2003 - 44 comments

iTunes 4 + iLeech = Napster. iTunes can stream songs over the internet right now. With iLeech or iTunesDL (direct download link, no info available) you can download files from other iTunes 4 users. With ShareiTunes and Spymac Music you can search for available iTunes libraries. Now you have access to hundreds of thousands of songs. Will this mean big trouble for Apple or were they planning for this?
posted by capndesign on May 14, 2003 - 14 comments

Get that MP3, and get the boot In a -IMHO- patetic effort to try to stop what can't be stopped, the RIAA and MPAA are urging companies to monitor their employee's downloading habits or face suing, damages, sanctions and what have you against them. In other words, inciting companies to treat their employees as potential criminals and dispose of them accordingly. While the risks of using P2P at work such as virii and leaking of private files do have a point, this is really about the RIAA/MPAA resorting to more desperate measures each time to try to stay afloat with their jaded business model, which will do nothing but accelerate their long-forecast demise in the "real" new economy.
posted by betobeto on Feb 15, 2003 - 16 comments

Justice for Consumers "The owners of the KaZaA file-sharing network are suing the movie and recording industries, claiming that they don't understand the digital age and are monopolizing entertainment." Quote from article by Associated Press. I don't about you but I'm sick and tired of big businesses writing all the new laws in this country. Now maybe the people can get some justice for a change.
posted by tljenson on Jan 28, 2003 - 21 comments

We all knew the day would come, the time to put the "you" in P2P: Buy your own piece of Napster at their bankruptcy auction. December 11th, live and webcast, their impressive set of top o' the line (for 2001) equipment is up for grabs.
posted by mathowie on Nov 19, 2002 - 9 comments

Big Wigs at Napster Resign And here I thought they were dead long ago.
posted by tsarfan on May 15, 2002 - 6 comments

Kazaa asks users to accept new terms and conditions when logging on. Anyone know of any hidden pitfalls to the t&c's? Am I going to get visits from the police?
posted by wibbler on Feb 4, 2002 - 15 comments

The New Napster Preview is up. Will you pay for this? I won't.
posted by deftone on Jan 2, 2002 - 35 comments

The War Against MP3? Hilary Rosen, everyone's favourite defender of record company hegemony, outlines her new strategy ("Help me help you.") in an email leaked to FuckedCompany. Interestingly, it's aimed at beating the dastardly hackers at their own game, with tactics such as "Spoofing and/or interdiction methods for existing peer to peers". Signs of desparation on the part of the RIAA, or should people be making the most of the second-generation Napster clones while they have a chance?
posted by holgate on Oct 3, 2001 - 34 comments

Napster is dead but the dream lives on. After two years of hard fighting, RIAA managed to kill Napster -- and now at least four comparable systems have appeared, all of which will be much harder to either control or to kill off. An RIAA rep acknowledges the problem. It couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of guys.
posted by Steven Den Beste on Sep 4, 2001 - 44 comments

Napster refuses to die, promises viable business model which you can now download for free. Someone tell these people that the dot-com "I've got no way of paying you anything other than stock options" boom is over. If I have to pay for the service of downloading software from a central server, the P2P model is useless. Morons.
posted by rev- on Aug 22, 2001 - 3 comments

Goose-killers suddenly notice absence of golden eggs? With Napster neutralised, the distributed alternatives thriving, and their commercial schemes mired in technological and political difficulties, many record industry execs are quietly wishing they'd done things differently. Should we regret the lost opportunity, or celebrate it as a self-inflicted step towards breaking the stranglehold of the major labels?
posted by holgate on Jul 23, 2001 - 19 comments

Gnucleus - The New Napster First I've heard of this, although apparently it's been around for almost a year at least. Is this just a bunch of hype? How is it an improvement over BearShare, Limewire and other Gnutella clients? Any user feedback?
posted by ideola on Jul 11, 2001 - 28 comments

Sorry, but where do you live? The RIAA/CRIA, seem to be a little overzealous in stopping the spread of "napster like services" by quoting laws/court desicions in C&D letters to ISP's in other countries. I'm not saying that thet're wrong to protect their copyright, but surely IRMA could have directed member countries to contact the ISP's?
posted by X-00 on Jul 9, 2001 - 0 comments

What is being shared on Napster and company? Let's just say p2p isn't helping to promote your garage band like some would claim.
posted by bonzo on Jun 10, 2001 - 13 comments

Songbird is billed as a Napster anti-piracy tool. It's job is supposedly for an artist to see the many title variations of their material as documentation for copyright violations. I don't know if this is truly a thinly-veiled claim of legitimacy or whether the author is just being earnest - but because it shows what users have what variations, I'm finding it a great tool to track down songs that I couldn't find before because of Napster's filtering and not necessarily being able to think of every possible variation...Neato.
posted by DiplomaticImmunity on May 10, 2001 - 7 comments

Could this be the straw that breaks the Camels back.
posted by monkeyJuice on May 8, 2001 - 13 comments

The anti-Napster or Napster's future?... File sharing as perceived by the music industry. I wonder if there isn't a deal with Napster already. But what are they going to do with all the Napster clones?
posted by talos on Apr 2, 2001 - 15 comments

If you are downloading from Napster or some other service, the RIAA is tracking you. Here's a screenshot of the Recording Industry's secret weapon.
posted by andre_111 on Mar 23, 2001 - 17 comments

Disney's Michael Eisner on what to do about all those kids who use Napster: Arrest and prosecute the little SOBs. I know I'd sleep better at night knowing that those devious conspiratorial 11-year-olds were behind bars. [second item]
posted by aaron on Mar 16, 2001 - 15 comments

MP3 Translator You deserve the right to privately trade music on the Internet. Napster currently has filters set in place that look for certain words in the Artist and/or Song Title. To get around this, all you have to do is:
posted by webcowboy on Mar 6, 2001 - 47 comments

Napster to filter out thousands of copyrighted songs - perhaps even a million tracks will be weeded out of the system by next week in an effort to appease the major labels and prevent shutdown. Expect a lot of l33t track naming from the haX0rz and for the RIAA to say "it's simply not good enough!"
posted by tobyslater on Mar 2, 2001 - 22 comments

If Napster does die, what then? Industry Standard relays a report that investor Bertelsmann isn't just sitting there waiting for the axe to fall. They may be behind the development of their own Napster clone—Snoopster—to move in on the wide-open territory Napster leaves behind. The catch? Snoopster only searched online services, not your own files. Services like... Napster.
posted by honkzilla on Feb 26, 2001 - 1 comment

Who needs napster? Lo-tech file sharing staring me in the face - just add your ftp site to the mix et voila - searchable sharing. "Leech and let leech."
posted by J. R. Hughto on Feb 15, 2001 - 14 comments

The ninth circuit court will be releasing their verdict on the linked page by 10am PST (noon CST). Is this the end for poor old Napster, or will other options be made available?
posted by Zebulun on Feb 12, 2001 - 6 comments

Is this finally it? Ever since I got my Cable Modem, Napster, and a CD burner I have wondered if the genie was ever going back in the bottle. It's gonna be fun to watch them try.
posted by fullerine on Feb 10, 2001 - 34 comments

What the Bertelsmann-Napster deal means.
"Hank Barry, chief executive of Napster, has suggested a monthly fee of about $4.95 might be appropriate, but he stressed that fees had not been set." (NYT article; grow up.)
posted by sylloge on Nov 1, 2000 - 11 comments

Bertelsmann, Napster to Develop Music Service
As part of this arrangement, BMG will be providing a loan to Napster, with a warrant to acquire some of Napster's equity.

If you can't beat 'em, buy 'em!
posted by peterme on Oct 31, 2000 - 5 comments

napster bought macster! (am i the only one who didn't know this was gonna happen?)
posted by patricking on Oct 24, 2000 - 10 comments

Barenaked Ladies use ingenuity instead of lawyers to outfox Napster users. Singer Steven Page can be heard in one download telling users: "Although you thought you were downloading our new single, what you actually were downloading is an advertisement for our new album." In retrospect, it's so clever, it's obvious. We're all smacking our heads thinking, "Why didn't I think of that?" Appropriating the Napster system to recoup valuable advertising targeted to those who actually like the band is so elegant in its simplicity, and everyone but the would-be copier is satisfied. (Until they BUY the album)
posted by mikewas on Sep 24, 2000 - 8 comments

Stanford, MIT, Duke, and UNC refuse to block Napster. Wahoo! Go Stanford!
posted by hobbes on Sep 22, 2000 - 4 comments

Wired has an interesting interview this month with David Boies, chief counsel for Napster and DOJ vs. MS (unfortunately, this link just points to the fact that the content won't be online until 10.10. With the debate about Napster everywhere (including september 16th below), I thought it helped to clarify exactly what Napster's position is. I thought John Perry Barlow's (EFF) essay was helpful as well.
posted by Sean Meade on Sep 18, 2000 - 1 comment

Sony: "Oops."
posted by baylink on Aug 30, 2000 - 0 comments

When Headlines Go... OVERT? (the surrealist headline generator strikes again)
posted by wendell on Aug 18, 2000 - 4 comments

The Napster of Needlepoint? "They're housewives and they're hackers" say Pegasus Originals who are beginning legal moves to stop online sharing of needlepoint patterns. (Via Crummy.com)
posted by Foaf on Aug 1, 2000 - 4 comments

AngryCoffee.com An interesting web interface for searching and downloading mp3s floating around on the MyNapster and OpenNap networks (Napster has currently shut them out of their network). But if everyone starts using a browser interface like this (and aren't logged into a Napster-like client) who's going to be serving the files in the first place?
posted by hit-or-miss on Jul 30, 2000 - 2 comments

I've been converted - Earlier today, I was arguing with some coworkers to the effect that napster was protected and should be free and clear. Between the document at the above link and the information in the RIAA injunction brief, it looks like I might have been wrong. Why can't these guys use more discretion in their e-mails? They might have been OK if they'd kept their mouths shut.
posted by syzygy on Jul 29, 2000 - 1 comment

Napster may be down, but pandora's out of the box, baby. Get OpenNap as soon as you can (if anyone finds a link to OpenNap, by all means post the URL)
posted by mathowie on Jul 26, 2000 - 35 comments

Shut it down! Napster ordered to shut down immediately. Backlash anyone?
posted by Mick on Jul 26, 2000 - 42 comments

A new survey of online music aficianados supports claims that the Napster crowd has been making for months: MP3-swappers are more likely to purchase music after listening to it for free.
posted by harmful on Jul 21, 2000 - 3 comments

"Hatch Warns Labels, Don't Make Me Come Over There and Spank You" Oooh! This is gonna be good. [ From Inside via Dan Lyke's excellent Flutterby. ]
posted by baylink on Jul 13, 2000 - 20 comments

Wow! Lars Ulrich makes a valid point! Who'd a thunk it? While he still fails to notice the obvious benefits the Nap' provides, or make amends for attacking his own fans (or at the very least realized that it's not Congress' place to meddle), Lars has gone ahead and more clearly illuminated his own point of view. Now if only he could have STARTED his argument a few months ago with such calm and coherent points (as opposed to grandiose posturing), this whole Napster debate would be a bit more...um...SOLVED by now?!
posted by NickBarat on Jul 11, 2000 - 14 comments

Napster retains (ahem) counsel. The right move I think. Along with the DeCSS case, this may be setting the precedent for what "intellectual property" and "public domain" mean in the 21st century. Hopefully, things will turn out better than in Sterling's "Distraction". Either way, things will never be the same.
posted by aflakete on Jun 18, 2000 - 1 comment

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!
posted by aaron on Jun 13, 2000 - 5 comments

RIAA, mp3.com & Jack Valenti gang up on napster Media racketeers flex their collective muscle. As long as napster is outside the ring, it's a movement symbol as much as a corporate entity. Where's the money? Where's the music? When will artists just start selling mp3s?
posted by aflakete on Jun 13, 2000 - 11 comments

Hey Napster fans! Pull your pants up, turn your hat around and get a job. "We'll put all the albums we can on the Internet for free download and to hell with the record companies. See how they'll like that! I know this feels good but they're throwing the baby out with the bath water."
posted by Mick on Jun 12, 2000 - 31 comments

Napster hits the cover of Newsweek Not a bad overview and presents both sides fairly (IMHO). Also some background on Shawn. Apparently Billy Corgan is napster-friendly.
posted by aflakete on Jun 2, 2000 - 0 comments