Once again, Napster users have been handed a blow by the courts.
Yesterday, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the file-transfer program will not be shut down immediately, but it has a clear chance of closing in the future.
A three-judge panel agreed with a lower court's ruling that Napster must stop users who trade songs without copyright permission, and it sent the injunction back to the lower courts to be reanalyzed and rewritten.
"This is definitely going to change the way we view rights to music and art," first-year Law student Jeff Lynn said.
Napster is an online file-sharing service for downloading MP3 music files.
Napster officials are dissatisfied but not totally discouraged by the ruling.
|
"We are disappointed in today's ruling," Napster CEO Hank Barry said in a statement yesterday. "While we respect the Court's decision, we believe, contrary to the Court's ruling today, that Napster users are not copyright infringers, and we will pursue every legal avenue to keep Napster operating."
Napster officials also want the case to go to trial instead of preliminary hearings.
"Under this decision Napster could be shut down - even before a trial on the merits," Barry said. "The Court today ruled on the basis of what it recognized was an incomplete record before it."
Napster has a few weeks to file with the appeals court. Officials plan to file for an enbunc court, where all judges hear the case instead of only three.
Circuit courts of appeals generally have a minimum of 15 judges, but a panel of only three hears each case. Under special circumstances, lawyers may ask for the entirety of the court to hear the case.
On July 26, Judge Marilyn Patal ruled that Napster must shut down. Napster appealed and was granted a stay from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The Appeals Court has been reviewing the case since Oct. 2.
During the court proceedings, Napster signed agreements with independent distributors to create a system in which users would pay to use the service. That way, artists could receive compensation for their work.
"We have been saying all along that we seek an industry-supported solution that makes payments to artists, songwriters, and other rights holders while preserving the Napster file sharing community experience," Barry said.
On Oct. 31, Napster signed with media giant Bertelsmann in order to create a membership-based service. BMG is a subsidiary of Bertelsmann.
College students make up a large portion of Napster's millions of users, partly because of their high-speed Internet access. Many of these students fear losing Napster music.
"I am very upset," first-year College student Marie Gurka said. "On my college budget, I can't afford to buy a new CD every time it comes out."
Many students believe that even if Napster closes its site, their access to MP3s will not be hindered.
"They'll never be able to get rid of all of the [similar] sites," first-year student Audra Jones said. "When one shuts down, another one will open up."
Napster founder Shawn Fanning holds the same optimism.
"Napster works because people who love music share and participate. Along the way, many people said it would never work," Fanning said in a statement yesterday. "We've heard that we couldn't survive before ... Today we have more than 50 million members, and we'll all find a way to keep the community growing."
|
| |
| Feb 12, 2001 | Napster loses appeal in 9th circuit court. |
| Oct 31, 2000 | Napster aligns with Bertlesmann in hopes to begin a pay site. |
| Sept 26, 2000 | University denies request to ban Napster use on campus computers. |
| Sept 6, 2000 | Attorneys for Dr. Dre write a letter to 18 Universities including U.Va. urging them to ban use of Napster. |
| June 28, 2000 | Napster receives a stay from 9th circuit court until an appeal is heard. |
| June 26, 2000 | Judge Marilyn Patel gives an injunction forcing Napster to shut down immediately. |
| June 16, 2000 | After successfully fighting Microsoft on behalf of the Department of Justice, attorney David Boies becomes Napster's legal defense counsel in its fight against the RIAA. |
| May 21, 2000 | Napster gets $15 million from venture capital firm Hummer Winblad and a new CEO, Hank Barry, replacing 19-year-old founder Shawn Fanning. |
| May 8, 2000 | A federal judge orders Napster to stand trial for copyright infringement. |
| May 3, 2000 | Rock band Metallica delivers 335,435 names of Internet users they say downloaded their music to Napster and asks for them to be banned from the service for copyright infringement. |
Read More
MLK III to focus on youth participation in politics as professor of practice
By Ford McCracken | 9 hours agoRestrictive voting laws are only one problem with voting today, according to King — the other is voter apathy. King even called the level of voter participation in U.S. elections “abysmal.”
New School of Data Science building opens with remarks and ceremony
By Cecilia Mould | YesterdayThe four-story, 61,000 square-foot building includes four classrooms and two seminar rooms, as well as a two-story central hub for hosting events.
Democratic Futures Project fellow Félix Maradiaga announces campaign to end arbitrary detention
By Caroline Hagood | YesterdayA public website for the campaign launched Friday, which Maradiaga says is the first step towards raising awareness.
