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Broadcast
27th July 2000
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NAPSTER
ORDERED TO STOP TRADING FREE MUSIC ON THE INTERNET
The Internet music provider Napster has been giving record companies
an industrial-sized headache by letting users swap songs on the web
free of charge.
Not for much longer though, because a federal judge in the US has
issued an order which will seriously limit the compay's activities.
It has to cease trade in music covered by the Recording Industry Association
of America, after record companies argued it provided opportunities
for piracy and copyright infringement.
Millions of Napster users have been flocking to the site for last-minute
downloads, but it is unlikely to be the end of the story because,
according to lawyer David Boies, Napster plans to appeal.
"As the plaintiffs have not been able, in six months, to identify
which songs they say they have copyrights in, there is no way that
Napster is going to be able to do that and yet the injunction says
Napster has to do that on pain of contempt."
This first major legal clash over music copyrights and the Internet
could have far-reaching repercussions.
Mike Edwards is the director of operations at IFPI, the London-based
international sister organisation of RIAA in the US. He told The BBC's
Paul Lewis what would happen now:
"They certainly will be able to comply with the order. About
99 per cent of the music that is transferred over Napster belongs
to the plaintiff companies."
Paul Lewis pointed out that even if Napster is closed, the music is
not actually stored on Napster, and there were other systems which
allowed people to link their own computers and swap music files.
"There are a number of Napster clones springing up, so we
have not seen the end of this. Even if they moved their sites off-shore,
such as the Isle of Man or the Cayman Islands, we would pursue them
there, or pursue similar technologies in the places where they have
been established."
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There are a number of Napster clones springing up, so we
have not seen the end of this.
Mike
Edwards
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But you are not going to be able to stop it are you? Paul Lewis inquired.
Ultimately this kind of music delivery is going to be the way of the
future and whether it is free, or whether it is paid for, is really
the issue. Why can’t you find some way of getting people to pay?,
he asked Mike Edwards.
"Well this case definitely is not the end of music on the
internet. I would prefer to see it as the beginning of music on the
internet, in a way that we can work with the people who have developed
these technologies and work with them to devise ways of getting the
rewards to the creators of the music."
Paul Lewis said research by Jupiter Communications indicated that
the people who used MP3, and sites like Napster, actually bought more
music.
"The research has been inconclusive. There is also research
suggesting the opposite, so we cannot really take that as given. But
what this is about is not so much encouraging or spoiling sales of
physical goods, it is talking about exploiting the potential of the
internet for the benefit of the music industry, for creators and for
consumers."
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This is about exploiting the potential of the internet for
the benefit of the music industry.
Mike
Edwards
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| The
Markets: 14:05 GMT |
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FTSE |
6406.80 |
-11.00 |
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Dow Jones |
12525.7 |
-48.11 |
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Nasdaq |
2467.70 |
-9.91 |
| Data delayed at least 15 minutes. |
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