Napster in the Media Learn Essays

Napster in the Media

...re the people are forced to pay a set monthly fee for music. This is going to have drastic effects on the music industry in my opinion, but of course we will have to wait and see. . There are many points of view on this topic and the basic arguments for music sharing are numerous. One of the main arguments is the Betamax Standard. This came from the Supreme Court case of Sony vs. The Movie Industry, in which Sony, like Napster, was found guilty of producing an instrument that allowed copyright infringements to be made. However, in the appeals process, the VCR, or videocassette recorder, was found to have more uses for non-infringement than for illegal uses. The argument for Napster, and other music sharing websites, would be that their programs allow users to listen to and promote this music. This is not a defined argument because the appeals process has yet to be decided. Napster has already been saved by this and other music sharing sites could merge together with other music companies, but if the MP3’s are not free, then there will not be as much participation at the website. The music sharing websites are being accused of undermining CD sales. However, strong data can be provided that the sale of compact discs has actually risen during the time that these websites have been around. The sale of CD’s, rose 9.9 percent in the last year while DVD’s, or digital versatile discs, rose 71.3 percent, and music videos rose 6.3 percent ( “The NET Act” 09/26/00 04/27/03 ) The RIAA contributes this growth to a healthy economy and new inspiring music artists. The other side of the controversy contributes this solely to the fact that music sharing websites, actually help to promote the sales of music. As technology is rising, there are new ways to distribute goods and these new ways help each other. The more technology that is out there, the more ways that people will come up with different structures to facilitate their wants and needs. The numbers that showed how music sales had grown over the past year did not come to surface until after the music industry had already started the dispute with Napster and other sites. The RIAA, would not be able to go back on their words because it would have made them look foolish. Even though there is strong evidence that the websites promote a lot of music. There are some less obvious factors for music sharing on the internet that are still worthy for contention. People can listen to and record songs off of the radio onto a blank cassette. Since technology is growing the internet is becoming similar to the radio. More specifically, Napster can be compared to radio stations and cassette tapes can be compared to...

• View Full Text