in denial :)

[girl's view]

i just can't believe it.

 

they're going to shut down napster. i love it. what am i going to do without it?

 

nothing will replace it. should i rebound to something else to lessen the void it will create in my life?

 

what about gnutella? is there anything else anyone can recommend to me?

 

i've become so attached to napster over the last year, it just won't be the same without it.

 

[cranberry]

www.audiogalaxy.com

 

!!!

 

=)

[Tony T]

I've probably downloaded $10,000 worth of music from Napster in the last year. If I would have taken that from a bank, I would have gotten five to ten years in jail.

 

The Internet has opened up a whole new mentality among mostly honest and civilized people. Like myself, most people forget that taking the work of others (writers, artists, musicians, record companies, etc.) is stealing. Yep, I am a thief. Am I sorry? Well, kinda. I'm not really sure. That's the problem.

 

The Internet has opened a floodgate of opportunities to rip off just about everybody in every way possible. I have really enjoyed my Napster experience. The only way I have been able to justify my use of it is that I download only music that I would NOT ordinarily buy. I have been introduced to hundreds of artists I would have never even sampled had it not been for Napster. On the other hand, I have enjoyed their work for free...and I don't feel good about it.

 

There are dozens of file and program software "sharing" sites on the Internet now. Cranberry was kind enough to list one I'd never heard of in the post above. But I think it's important for us to realize that while we are feverishly downloading from Napster and other sites before the courts pull the plug, there is no other word for what we are doing...we are stealing. I don't feel real good about that. I would estimate that had people been made to pay for the songs they downloaded, even 50 cents each, we would probably be talking close to a BILLION dollars or more.

 

There are also sites where we can download whole word processing, graphics, and other expensive programs. Hackers, some of them still in puberty, struggle daily to find new ways of stealing stuff, getting into pay sites for free, etc. Adult site owners steal photos from other adult sites. All kinds of copyrighted material is copied illegally and sent around. Hundreds of thousands of Internet users get paid six cents every time they click on an ad link...without ever looking at the site they were led to.

 

Even worse than stealing music and software, thousands of hearts are defrauded everyday in chatrooms and elsewhere on the Internet by users who lie about themselves, making bold misrepresentations they could never do in real life. One thing is to steal music...but stealing people's hearts through fraud and meanness is to me the worst sin of all.

 

It could be that the Internet is immunizing or neutralizing our consciences. Perhaps even rendering them useless. We do things in the cyberworld we would never do in real life because we have a shield of protection from getting caught.

 

Anyway, I am grateful to Napster and, at the same time, ashamed of myself. Grateful for being introduced to wonderful new music. Grateful for the oldies I thought I would never hear again. Ashamed that I have stolen the labor of many talented people, if only for a few minutes... it was wrong. The courts have said it was wrong. I believe what I did was wrong.

 

From time to time, we need to get away from cyberland, take a cold shower, and take an inventory of just how we use it. In a thousand years, people will look back and say...it was the best of times...it was the worst of times. It was a time when we made it much easier for the dark side of human nature to be illuminated.

 

When Napster becomes a paysite, I'll send them some money...for the stuff I've already downloaded.

 

I'm not apologizing for others, only for myself. Others may feel they had a right to the stuff on Napster because it was there...and everybody was doing it, including me.

[Dragonflys]

While I like Napster, and have downloaded lots of music for myself, I really feel bad about it. Simply because many fine musicians have put so much work into something that I can dowload in 3-5 minutes (or quicker) an album at no cost to me.

 

I think if sites like Napster do not become pay-per-month sites the quality of the music we hear will suffer and a lot of musicians will simply not be able to survive in the business.

 

So I really hope it stays and costs us say $20 per month to use. One figure suggested in one newspaper was $10 per month. I'd be happy to pay $20.

[girl's view]

in my own weird way, i feel justified in having downloaded lots of songs. probably because i don't have a cd burner, so in effect, i'm not downloading a whole cd that i could have paid for.

 

even if i did have a burner i wouldn't burn the latest cd. i want the genuine article complete with sleeve and all. i have an awesome cd collection and when i really love a band, i want the *actual* cd, not a verbatim with a dodgy cover.

 

i have a lot of mixed songs - many i already have on cd. i've just downloaded it anyway so when i'm on my computer for hours on end, i can just whack on the headphones, throw some songs onto winamp, and bop away without waking anyone else in the house.

 

but i do totally understand tony and oliver's reasoning of paying for the use of it and perhaps feeling guilty. but on the other hand, for YEARS people have been ripping off artists anyway by the fact that we are able to tape record cd's. we have also been ripping off video's and video games (playstation etc) by being able to copy them.

 

BUT...at the same time, napster has also been a great vessel for artists to put their music on and be discovered.

 

but we can't argue the law this time - they do have a point. i'm just gonna miss ole napster and my chats with music fans from all over the world !

[alayvoa]

I feel that people in the puplic eye: musicians, actors, sports...they are all way overpaid. It's about time that they come down to earth & realize that you can't hog all the $$$$$, we can work just as hard OR harder & never make the kind of $$$ they do so why not give us a break & let them feel the crunch for once. Think about it everyone is learning a lesson thanks to computers & the net. Hallmark can't stop us from making our own cards, Kodak has competition with photo developing, phone companies are suffering long distance losses via e-mail! Hey it's about time we got a savings on all the cost! Sorry Whitney Houston maybe you won't be able to afford your limo tomorrow. Maybe I'll save enough to be able to afford one!