Digital Music

The world of computers is expanding by the second. The computer revelation that took place in the nineties has change the way people view our world. A few decades ago, no one thought that computers will be used by this magnitude. I would argue that the idea of owning a personal computer seemed strange.

Nowadays, personal computers are becoming a very essential part of our lives. Schools, hospitals, and corporations (the list does not stop here) are using computers to run almost every daily operation. Therefore, computer companies are working 24/7 trying to produce competitive personal computers. What made personal computers so integrated in our lives is new functions that they can perform. Computers are not designed only to do highly complicated mathematical calculations, there is wide range of function that a persona computer can do specially in the entertainment field. Most new computers are equipped with powerful hardware and software to show movies, DVD player, and to play music, CD player.

The expansion of the high speed internet and the innovation of technologically advanced software, made it possible for users no matter where they are in the world to share whatever content they have on their personal computers on the net. This technology is better known as peer to peer file sharing. The first company that started this phenomenon online was NAPSTER. Napster enabled registered users to find files on other registered users computers on and download them. To get a better explanation and understanding of how Napster, and other file sharing programs work, visit Napster and Kazaa

click image to read more on how P2P works ¹

The industry response represented by Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) to this new service was sharp and strict. According to the RIAA, Napster has violated copy righted laws. They argue that most of the MP3s that were offered on Napster were infringing. Not only that, Napster in fact knew that these files were infringing and encouraged the usage of such files. Therefore, and based on the previous argument, Napster was found guilty for the encouragement of illegal copying and the distribution of copy righted materials.

There were some counter arguments to the RIAA's. The defense argued that Napster did not host any illegal or copy righted materials on there servers. Nevertheless, Copyright law has long recognized that someone who materially contributes to infringing activity, with knowledge of that activity, is liable for copyright infringement as if that person did the copying him or herself.

The battle between RIAA and Napster was long and harsh. Recording companies and many artists supported the RIAA because of their claims that Napster hurt their sales and profits. On the other hand, there was a lot of support for Napster, that support came primarily from the millions of people who enjoyed the great and free service of Napster. Sadly, the district court found that the overwhelming majority of the MP3 files offered on Napster are infringing and that Napster knows this and even encourages it. As a result, the court ordered the shut down of Napster facility. All services that were provided by Napster were stopped right after the ruling. To read more on RIAA response to some important questions about the lawsuit against Napster, visit (Frequently Asked Questions - Napster and Digital Music)

By taking Napster out of the business and shutting it down, the RIAA and all the opposition to the Peer To Peer file sharing thought that this issue would be over and that it will never come up again. Simply they thought that they could make Napster's case a lesson to those who might want to start services like that. Luckily that did not happen.

Kazaa made the biggest come back in the file sharing industry; it is the new nightmare for the RIAA and others who are against P2P sharing. This time the battle will be even harder. On the surface, it seems that there is absolutely no difference between Kazaa and Napster. Well, as much as the RIAA would want the court to believe that, Kazaa's representation argues otherwise. They argue that Kazza provides the software, which cannot be illegal by itself, and has no way to monitor what kind of files users choose to download in their machines.

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The RIAA is changing tactics this time. They are not going only after Kazza, but after the users who might be trafficking copy righted material. The RIAA is targeting individual users and they are trying to force internet service providers to give the names of these individuals. The following link gives a more detailed overview of a case where RIAA is suing an individual user: RIAA details Kazaa user's song cache

Things got even more complicated when Apple Computer's iTunes software was released on the market. The intended purpose of this software was to enable Apple users to share files if they are connected to a local network. Online users are offered a huge music store through this program where songs are sold 99 cent a song.

The controversy that Apple was trying to avoid when it released iTunes software happened. Several groups of programmers said that they figured out a way to make it possible to share music using iTunes over the Net.

It seems that this battle between the RIAA and P2P file sharing lovers will never end. Instead of wasting millions of money and resources trying to hunt down and sue users and producers of programs that allow this technology, maybe it is time for RIAA to admit that it would be easier, and maybe more beneficial to all parties, if it tries to work and adapt to such technologies instead of declaring war that has no precise targets or achievable results.

References

1. Original source for image and article: http://www.theindianprogrammer.com/columns/pranab/p2p.htm
   
2. Original source: http://www.mp3downloadhq.com/images/kazaa.jpg