Re: [TCLUG:14628] RE: Napster

["Eric M. Hopper" <hopper@omnifarious.mn.org>]

On Mon, Mar 13, 2000 at 03:47:10PM -0600, Trainor, Kevin T. wrote:
> Scott Dier wrote:
> >On Mon, 13 Mar 2000, Ron Parker wrote:
> >
> >> That said, our feeling is that everything that's bad for the major
> >> recording labels is good. Without exception, not enough damage can be
> done
> > Keep in mind, in the situation I am in, it is limited shared network
> > bandwidth and *not* the fact that the traffic might be illegal.
> > 30% of an oc3c hurts.  alot. :)  Now that it has been turned off, I can
> > actually surf the net at night from the dorm room.
> 
> I don't have a problem with Napster per se, but I do think it's damn
> inconsiderate of people to be clogging the pipes with this stuff and
> screwing up other peoples' access to the Net. Especially in a
> university situation...there was a comment about this on /. from a
> sysadmin whose network has essentially "timed out" access for anyone
> who pulls down more than 200MB of data through the pipe. I think
> that's a more reasonable solution, myself, and makes the universities
> not look so much like allies of the MPAA.

	This is a solution that makes sense.  Allowing people to build
their multi-gigabyte MP3 collections on the back of the university's
network in the course of a few days is a little much to ask for.

> I don't know about the anti-copyright thing, though.  I can see how
> musicians would do OK (as Chuck D pointed out, there's always concerts
> and merchandise) but what about writers?  Where will movies and TV
> programs come from if the producers can't recover their investments
> because everyone's downloading the DVD file from pirate sites?

	I don't know.  I just know it's time for a rebalancing.  The
situation needs to get so bad for producers that they're forced to sit
down and work out a solution that doesn't leave them holding all the
cards.

	I do know that copyright has become completely unenforceable
without drastic measures.  Copyright is now largely only enforced either
because OCR is difficult, or on the honor system.  I think the
infrastructure necessary to support toothful enforcement of copyright is
detrimental to the existence of a free state.

Have fun (if at all possible),
-- 
Its name is Public Opinion.  It is held in reverence. It settles everything.
Some think it is the voice of God.  Loyalty to petrified opinion never yet
broke a chain or freed a human soul.     ---Mark Twain
-- Eric Hopper (hopper@omnifarious.mn.org  http://omnifarious.mn.org/~hopper) --

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