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Thursday, March 08, 2001 By David Radin
The battle between the recording industry and Napster may look over, but the big battle -- over how consumers obtain their music, movies and other copyrighted works -- is just heating up.
Last week, Napster caved in. Executives at the company announced that they would block files containing music identified by the music companies as "infringing" files. Initially 5,600 songs were targeted for removal -- including 5,599 Metallica tunes and one by the Oneders. Full catalogs of each record company will swiftly follow, and a judge this week ordered that producers may ask Napster to remove songs that it must then take out of circulation in three days.
The public will undoubtedly react, using various tactics to get around the blockages, and they'll have no problem doing it. Get ready to see file names change so they can't easily be targeted. For instance, a file that might have been called "Bad" containing Michael Jackson music, may be renamed "Badly" or some other name that would make it difficult to police using automated means. It won't take long for a de facto standard to arise, so Napster users around the globe will know how to find the songs they want -- even as the songs are hidden from Napster's initial policing effort.
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That will give Napster another reason to claim naivete or incapability. They'll argue that they can't police the culprits who keep changing the file names, and that they cannot check every file to see what's inside. So they'll do nothing.
The RIAA will object. The trade group will go to court to make Napster change the way it polices its files, not allowing Napster to turn its back under the guise of inability.
This dance will go on for months. With each step, users will find a new work-around; Napster will say it is helpless against the work-around; and the RIAA, using legal pressure, will finally force Napster to toe the line. In the backrooms, Napster will furiously work to solidify its pay service, making it possible to entice the people who are willing to pay, while continuing to service the people who would rather steal the music, making believe that ripping off the music companies is the only way to keep the music companies from ripping them off. Other services, such as Aimster and Gnutella, will continue to hone their technology and business plans to serve the remaining market. They'll find legal loopholes to protect themselves. The music companies will concurrently launch their own services to compete with Napster, further segmenting the market.
Meanwhile, consumers will rush to Napster and other file-sharing services to download their favorite files while they're still available -- before the policing measure. And with every legal announcement, there will be another flurry of download activity.
Two years from now, the current big players will still control the majority of the music market. We'll have new technologies to obtain our music and movies. And law makers will still be debating laws to protect copyright holders and consumers.
Q: All of a sudden, I get dots between my words and funny marks at the end of my paragraphs and on all blank lines. These funny marks look like a backward p with two stems. What happened?
A: If you're using Microsoft Word, you probably inadvertently turned on the formatting marks for space and hard return. Select [Tools], then [Options...]. On the [View] tab, in the area labeled "Formatting Marks," remove the check marks next to the phrases "spaces" and "paragraph marks." If these two selections are not already checked, then look to see if the phrase "all" is checked. If so, remove the check mark next to it.
David Radin is host of the nationally syndicated radio show "Internet Insider," a local version of which is aired on KDKA AM 1020 at noon Saturdays. You can ask him a computer or Internet question by following the instructions at www.post-gazette.com/interact, where you also can find an archive of his previous Q&A columns.
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