HEAVY METAL HEAVYWEIGHTS K.O. NAPSTER FANS

At the request of the heavy metal band Metallica, Napster, Inc., the San Mateo, California-based provider of the most popular file sharing software on the Internet, blocked access to more than 300,000 of the band's fans. When Metallica sued Napster in April, Napster stated that it wished to seek a peaceful resolution to the band's demands.

However, on May 3, Metallica delivered a sworn accusation of infringement by users and thirteen boxes of documents containing the usernames of people who had allegedly made certain Metallica MP3 files available for sharing with other Napster users. Metallica effectively restricted the free-exchange of any music by these users, including so-called "bootleg" recordings authorized by Metallica for free distribution, when Napster received final confirmation yesterday afternoon that all users cited in the band's notice should be blocked.

Ironically, Metallica's notice to Napster recognized that the Napster system could be lawfully used to circulate some of the band's music. The notice asserted that "Metallica makes no claim of copyright infringement with respect to recordings of their songs made by fans at Metallica live concerts," and that Metallica objected to sharing through Napster of "only the songs and recordings originally included on commercially released Metallica albums, and . . . . not . . . so called bootleg Metallica recordings."

So, at the behest of the band, Napster has promptly instituted a block on more than 300,000 allegedly infringing Napster users. Napster will comply with the procedures of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which stipulates the way in which a service provider who receives notification of alleged infringement from a copyright holder must take action. The DMCA also provides a procedure for users to dispute Metallica's allegation of infringement.

Blocked users who have not infringed Metallica's rights may submit a counter notification in order to reinstate their Napster accounts. Napster respects the privacy of its users and has disclosed no personal information regarding their accounts. The information provided by Metallica to Napster included the users' on-line names, or "handles," not personal information.

Napster's counsel, Laurence Pulgram, at Fenwick & West, LLP in San Francisco, stated: "Napster has taken extraordinary steps to comply with Metallica's demands to block hundreds of thousands of its fans from using the Napster system. Napster has always stated that it would act in response to notice from copyright holders, and it has lived up to that commitment in good faith."

Napster's stance on the block and subsequent takedown can be found at:
http://www.napster.com/metallica-notice.html

Policies regarding the report of copyright violations and its terms of use: http://www.napster.com/dmca.html and http://www.napster.com/terms.html respectively.

UPDATE:

One day after more than 300,000 people where bounced off of the file-trading application, there's plenty of advice and specific directions on how to get back onto Napster. Most can be found on the company's own message boards... such as this: "banned users could get around the problem by uninstalling the Napster software and reinstalling an older version of the application. That would allow users to log on to the system under a different name".

Read more or have your say on the Napster Bulletin Board http://forum.napster.com/forum/Ultimate.cgi

For the latest, check: http://www.wired.com/news/mp3/

...and if you thought the spectacle of a heavy-metal band whining to Congress about the Internet was hilarious, just wait 'til you check out a short movie about it....

The Flash spoof of Metallica's efforts to shut down file-sharing service Napster depicts singer James Hetfield as a hulking ape who grunts things like "T-shirts good!" You can try to see it at http://www.campchaos.com/cartoons/napsterbad, but due to the popularity of "Napster Bad!", the server has been completely overloaded!

And... Napster does have its supporters in the music community...

Limp Bizkit will be play 24 free shows in 3,000- to 5,000-seat amphitheaters in 10 cities, including Boston, New York, and San Francisco, thanks to a $1.8 million sponsorship deal with the company. And rapstation.com founder and Public Enemy frontman Chuck D is co-sponsoring a lyrics competition with Napster.