the opportunities the Internet offers (Smith). Many of these companies are launching their own MP3 sales and distribution services, or offering subscriptions that allow registered users to download unlimited tracks for a period of time. E-music.com already offers this type of service, including a monthly subscription service. There are a few solutions that could save Napster form is inevitable death. One solution that has been suggested is that Napster Inc pays money to artists when their songs are downloaded, similar to how the radio pays artists when their songs are played. Another solution is that Napster could work with the music industry to distribute certain sample tracks to the public. These tracks could be distributed free as promotion for the album, or Napster could agree to pay royalties. Another solution being used by other similar information-sharing programs like Napster, Freenet and Gnutella is to make file transfers over the application anonymous. In this type of file sharing there in no central server, as more members sing-on with the program, it braches out to other members. Though the most positive move would have Napster paying money to artists whose songs are downloaded because it would mean that artists receive fair compensation for their work. However, to support such a transfer, Napster would either have to turn into a paid subscription service, or show advertising, which would most likely never cover the cost. Also this would cause, money spent on the modifying of the downloaded program, and working out a way to determine what songs have been downloaded, the administration costs for Napster would skyrocket. The option of Napster and the music industry combining has the advantage of being totally legal and stopping all conflicts between Napster and the RIAA. However, this would mean a great reduction in the number of songs available and would stop the sharing of the program. The advantage of the anonymous user...
