Ignore for a moment the oxymoron "Democratic think tank".. check out
the self-declared 'centrists' pushing for criminalizing
anonymity...
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000519/tc/tech_napster_1.html
Think Tank to Take Napster Proposals to Congress
By Sue Zeidler
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A centrist Democratic think tank said on Friday it
will suggest
measures to Congress next week to reduce piracy associated with
controversial song-swap
company Napster Inc. and similar online services.
The Progressive Policy Institute (PPI), a Washington, D.C.-based research
organization for the
centrist Democratic Leadership Council, will propose the measures in a
paper on Tuesday at a
House Small Business Committee hearing.
``The current court case and ensuing media battle are accomplishing little
in the way of
creating real long-term solutions to online piracy,'' said Robert
Atkinson, Director of the New
Economy Project for the institute.
Atkinson and Shane Ham co-wrote the paper called
``Napster and
Online Piracy, The Need to Revisit the Digital
Millennium Copyright
Act.'' Napster was not available for comment.
San Mateo, Calif-based Napster's software works like a
co-op,
enabling users to swap songs by trading MP3 files, a
compression
format that turns CDs into computer files.
The software program has been a nightmare for record companies, which have
called it a
haven for piracy because it enables distribution of music without any
copyright protection.
Napster has been sued for copyright infringement by the Recording Industry
Association of
America (RIAA), representing all the big record companies such as
Universal Music, BMG,
Sony Music and Warner Music, which is soon to merge with EMI.
Rock bands Metallica and Dr. Dre have also sued Napster.
``With the RIAA and Napster setting the tone of the debate, only the
extreme possibilities are
being explored while the substance has been lost,'' Atkinson said.
While Napster has claimed it is merely an Internet service provider (ISP)
and not liable for
users' actions, it is required by law to bar users proven to be infringing
on copyrights.
Napster recently barred 300,000 Metallica fans the band said had infringed
its copyrights using
Napster.
Atkinson said Napster only reacted quickly because of media attention.
``The law as written
has no set timetable,'' he said, referring to the Digital Millennium
Copyright Act. ``We're
proposing a specific timeframe, perhaps a week, for ISPs to remove
infringing users once
they're identified,'' he said.
The PPI also proposed that Napster should collect identifiable and
verifiable information from
its users, such as addresses and credit card information. The paper also
proposed giving
judges greater flexibility in granting injunctions against services being
used for copyright
infringement.
``Right now, judges have to wait for a trial as copyright losses pile up
by the minute,'' he said.
