OpenMusings

Block 1 of T214 includes a case study on Napster and its affect on the internet – the beginning of the rise of peer-to-peer, essentially. What’s funny / curious about it (depending on your point of view) is some of the articles the case study links to to help you learn more about how Napster was viewed at the time, and the issues the legal battle between it and the RIAA raised. Have a read of this article over at the Harvard Law School (warning: long) as an example – especially the six possible ways forward that the article posits.

As far as music is concerned, the way things are today is almost unrecognisable from then – music is now freely available from legal download services, with no DRM restrictions, for reasonable per-song costs. The music industry has learnt the lessons that those who turned to Napster wanted them to learn.

But the RIAA’s place has now been taken by the MPAA and their ilk, who are seeking to keep their control over the movie business. It’ll be interesting to see if history repeats itself in their case.

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