ed four of his newest songs inmp3 format on his internet home, and actually spoke in front of Congress in May to speak of hisexperiences and opinions on Napster and it’s effects on music as a business and anentertainment.Even without going into much depth as to the reasons behind their stances, the chasm betweensome artists regarding Napster and mp3 is huge, and while some artists only mildly representone side or the other, several have taken huge steps in the direction that they feel is right.The Napster-Bertelsmann AgreementNapster, of Redwood City, California and Bertelsmann, of Germany have recently formed astrategic alliance. Bertelsmann, the media conglomerate and owner of BMG music, has decidedto make a large financial investment in Napster to give it a much needed injection of capital.They have also agreed to drop the lawsuit brought on by BMG, their record company, that issimilar to the suit brought on by other record companies. The lawsuit was a multimillion-dollarcase brought on against Napster by many of the world’s largest and most powerful mediaempires. They were suing Napster for facilitating copyright infringement by allowing users toexchange MP3 files that had been illegally copied without consent or royalty paid to the recordcompanies. They will also put BMG music on Napster to be available to all Napster users. Inreturn, Napster intends to make a huge concession that some believe will compromise theoriginal intent and current appeal of the program. They intend to charge a monthly user fee to allNapster users to allow them to access the service. The impact of this concept is yet unknown,and can only truly be known once implemented. Napster has promised advanced warning beforeany change of this size takes place. They are asking for the opinions of users about the proposedchange. Many users are concerned about the effect that this will have on them. They are worriedthat the number of users will decline sharpl...
