Napster Legality :: essays research papers

Napster & Peer-to-peer File SharingA Crime Not According to the facts. close people who form been paying any attention to the news impart heard of an online assist called Napster. Although Napster may have millions of members, many people have absolutely no idea what Napster is, or why it is the topic of so much controversy. In recent months, the music assiduity has faced several(prenominal) pressing issues involving Napster. MP3s are the real issue behind Napster. MP3s are a computer commove format that greatly reduces the file size of a track on a CD. Due to the exhort file of the music, they endure be easily transmitted over the Internet. at a time the files are stored on the computers strenuous drive they can be played as many times as the drug user would standardised to listen to them. To add to the dissatisfaction of the music industry, peer-to-peer file sharing aids, like Napster, have gained huge popularity in the last few years. The industry is onerous to prove that Napster is hurting their sales, which causes damage to their business and is illegal on the introduction of copyright infringement. If one were to look into this matter a little deeper they would line up that this is not true. Napster and other peer-to-peer networks are legal and are protected chthonian the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. A peer-to-peer file sharing service has two main functions, one of which is that it provides Internet chat rooms and here and now message services. It also allows users to scan the hard drives of other users to search for an MP3. in one case the desired MP3 is located the user searching for the file is able to transfer the file directly to their personal Grohs 2computers hard drive. When the user obtains the file, it then becomes searchable and transferable by other users. As more users download the same file, the odds of another user locating that file greatly increases, as more people on the network are religious offering it for do wnload. This makes the spread of an individual files move swiftly.The most popular of these services on the Internet is Napster. As Napster has gained popularity, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has sued the service claiming that Napster provides a safe haven for users to trade copyrighted material. The music industry believes there is a significant decrease in sales ascribable to the existence of services like Napster and this causes substantial damage to their business.