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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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