-Caveat Lector- from: http://www.smh.com.au/news/0011/04/pageone/pageone8.html Click Here: <A HREF="http://www.smh.com.au/news/0011/04/pageone/pageone8.html">Napster fans rue day free music died …</A> ----- Napster fans rue day free music died By KIRSTY NEEDHAM Music-loving Internet users are deserting the pirate Web site Napster, accusing it of selling out to big business and betraying the community that built it into an online icon. "Here you guys were, the underground music-moving underdogs. Now you're corporate. What the hell happened?" demanded one user in the Napster chat room, under siege as members vented their spleen at a deal cut with media giant Bertelsmann this week. Music fans fear the deal will end their online music free-for-all. The Napster site has allowed about 38million people on home computers around the world to swap recordings - free of charge - in the form of digital MP3 files. The number of Australian Napster users has doubled since June to 220,000 a month, according to the research firm ACNielsen. It says legal battles with the traditional record industry over copyright violation have only served to increase Napster's popularity. But this week's deal with the owner of the BMG label may prove more effective in killing off the Web site than any court-ordered shutdown. Tens of thousands of users logged on to say goodbye yesterday as Napster's management posted a defence of the deal, under which Bertelsmann will lend it money to build a paid subscription service and potentially take a stake in Napster. "I will never pay for an MP3," was the cry from Net users. They are heading off to spongspy.com and napigator, among a long list of alternative, and free, song-trading sites. Shawn Fanning, the 19-year-old college student who created the Napster software last year, is accused of selling out. Conspiracy theories abound. "The romanticism of Napster was based on the fact it was a non-profit organisation," said one formerly loyal fan. Seeking to stem the exodus, Napster responded. Yes, there will be a new fee-paying service but the free material will remain. Mr Rob Appel, founder of the local site Chaosmusic.com.au, says it will be difficult to balance the record industry's concerns about digital piracy with the demands of Internet users. "BMG will see a marketing advantage in aligning itself to Napster's huge user base," he says. "But the downside is Napster will be deserted by its users." • Special report: Napster's fight Copyright © 2000. The Sydney Morning Herald All rights reserved. ----- Aloha, He'Ping, Om, Shalom, Salaam. Em Hotep, Peace Be, All My Relations. Omnia Bona Bonis, Adieu, Adios, Aloha. Amen. Roads End <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html">Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
