IP: Napster/Gnutella/FreeNet

[Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

> From: "John Lyon" <jelyon () jelyon com>
> To: <farber () cis upenn edu>
>
> "Music industry can't outwit online outlaws" from the Boston Globe, complete
> article online at:
>
> http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/152/nation/Music_industry_can_t_outwit_onl
> ine_outlaws+.shtml
>
> David Weekly wasn't amused earlier this month when Napster, the digital
> music-sharing service, ousted more than 300,000 users for illegally trading
> songs by the band Metallica. The Arlington native and Stanford University
> senior devised a technical solution to get around the ban and posted the
> instructions on his Web site. He estimates that 95 percent of the outlawed
> users were back on Napster within days.
>
>
> Weekly's quick fix is just one way savvy computer users are circumventing
> attempts by the entertainment industry to stop online piracy. So far, most
> of the attention has been focused on Napster, which is wildly popular on
> college campuses. But if the music industry prevails in its lawsuits against
> the San Mateo-based start-up, users could migrate to other commercial online
> trading services, like iMesh and Scour; they could also turn to underground
> programs that don't rely on a central server and are less vulnerable to
> litigation.
>
>
>
> My favorite quote from the article:
>
> ''That is not freedom of speech; that is thievery,'' says Jack Valenti,
> executive director of the Motion Picture Association of America. ''Wherever
> one snake head arises, we will cut it off,'' he adds. ''And if another one
> grows in its place, we'll cut that one off, too.''
>
> My comment on that: Isn't there a mythological creature with hair of snakes,
> whereupon should you cut one snake off, two grow in it's place? I think
> that's a better analogy.