Napster – A Tiny Sample of the Information Revolution
Terrell Ward Bynum
The previous comment posted in this series – “Will
the Internet Kill the Geese that Lay Our Golden Eggs?” – [see the archives
of this series] concerned the heated public controversy about Napster and similar
computer programs. Such programs enable individuals to swap computerized music
files and other computer files over the Internet without paying a royalty to
copyright holders. This is a follow-up to my previous posting.
Much has happened during the past month. A federal judge in California (Judge
Marilyn Patel) ruled that Napster must cease operations because the company
facilitates piracy of intellectual property. After that ruling, a federal court
of appeals stayed the order and Napster has remained in operation. In addition,
hearings were held in the U.S. Congress, with lawyers for the music and film
industries arguing for elimination and outlawing of companies and programs like
Napster.
Defenders of Napster and similar computer programs argued that powerful music
and film distributors simply want to prevent any competition in the distribution
of music and films – and thereby preserve their economic dominance of the
field. These critics suggested that music and film distributors should find
new business models to take advantage of the new technology, rather than try
to stifle competition. Musical groups who are “outsiders” – not
among the few that the music industry promotes – argued that Napster and
similar Internet distribution programs provide a much-needed opportunity to
disseminate their works around the globe for potential fans who otherwise could
not hear their music. This will lead to more diversity and greater freedom of
creativity, they said.
In a recent op-ed column in the New York Times, “Facing the Music: Napster
is Only the Beginning” (Sunday, July 30th, 2000), Paul Krugman noted that
the Napster debate is just the beginning of the world’s struggle to reconsider
the very idea of intellectual property. He pointed out that Napster is an easy
legal and technical target compared to more sophisticated and more “distributed”
file-swapping technology:
Napster was a soft target, a centralized operation . . . where the short arm of the law could reach them. Ready to take up the slack if Napster shuts down are decentralized “distributed” systems in which the music resides on [and is disseminated by] the computers of many different people.
Krugman scoffs at John Perry Barlow’s suggestion that, like the musical
group The Grateful Dead, the music industry should allow fans to copy the music
and make up the losses with ticket sales. To Barlows’ suggestion that the
Internet should be governed by a “fluid etiquette” rather than “rigid
law” – like the unwritten “Code of the West” of 19th century
America – Krugman replies: “that etiquette didn’t save the buffalo
– or give any consideration to the Indians.”
The Napster debate is a tiny part of a much bigger story; namely, the world’s
struggle to rethink the very idea of intellectual property – and indeed
to come to terms with the “information revolution” that is “morphing”
into existence before our eyes. As Krugman notes:
The truth is that this story is much bigger than music, or even intellectual property. Something serious, and troubling is happening – and I haven’t heard any good ideas about what to do about it.
We get here a tiny glimpse at a fundamental question in the new and important field of “computer ethics” or “information ethics”: How can the world justly and ethically integrate the most powerful and most flexible technology ever devised – information technology – into every corner of society and of a human life??
Home > In The News > Napster – A Tiny Sample of the Information Revolution
HOME | IN
THE NEWS | RESEARCH
RESOURCES
TEACHING RESOURCES |
STUDENT RESOURCES | LINKS
The Research Center on Computing & Society
at Southern Connecticut State University
501 Crescent Street | New Haven, CT 06515
Director: (203) 392-6790 | e-mail: webmaster@computerethics.org
© 2000 – 2007 – Research Center on Computing & Society