Pirates of Globalization

What Napster actually does is provide access to nearly every recording anyone oculd want. Napster has not copied or accumulated any of the recordings available from it; it simply helps people to seek the music that they want. It has music available that may not be available anywhere else, and it offers instant connection. It allows someone to listen to a song and check out the artist before spending eighteen dollars on the CD. It is like a "library," where everyone connected "shares" songs with one another. Artists, such as Metallica, who sued Napster, believed their songs were "being given away and the 'library' as ill-gotten pirate booty."

The issue of globalization is regarding “major companies who build a relationship with another country and conduct business that benefits both” (McCormick, Lecture). When seeing the term definition and thinking about it one must explore how do both parties make money from their relationship. Therefore, the only way that both parties can make money from a relationship it that if the company and country set up an arrangement that benefits both. An

In 1999, Shawn Fanning and his little program called Napster created quite a stir in society. Napster's software allows music listeners to open pieces of their personal hard drives to everyone using Napster, sharing whatever MP3 songs they have already downloaded or stored. At any time, thousands of people are online, sharing hundreds of thousands of songs, many of which are technically illegal to download without the permission of the copyright holders. [1] This led to a lawsuit filed by the Recording Industry Association of America, with the rock group Metallica as its frontman. In this case, several issues were brought up, one of which was the right of the creator of the music to control what happens with

Hill, C.W.L. & Hult, G.T.M. (2016). Global Business Today. (9th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.

First, it is important to discuss the direct, contributory and vicarious infringement claims against Napster. Direct copyright infringement claims are based on a breach of a copyright owners’ exclusive rights to the copyrighted work(s). A&M Records, Inc. v. Napster, Inc., 239 F.3d 1004, 1013 (9th Cir. 2001). Napster was found liable for this because the users used its platform to upload and download copyrighted music, thus infringing on two exclusive rights: reproduction and distribution. Id at 1014. Contributory copyright infringement claims are based on secondary infringers who have either actual or

“After a string of adverse legal decisions, Napster, Inc. began its death spiral on March 6, 2001, when it began complying with a Federal court order to block the transfer of copyrighted material over its peer-to-peer network” (History.com). The death spiral of Napster happened rapidly. After Napster went out of business many websites like pandora and Spotify learned from Napster’s mistakes and got legal rights to the music but without Napster, they wouldn't be around.

Starting in the year 1999, a company called Napster opened up a whole new world to the Internet where every song ever made was instantly available to you on your computer for free. It was created by an 18-year-old Northeastern University student named Shawn Fanning. Napster transformed personal computers into servers that shared mp3 files all across the Internet (Mayer, 2008). It became popular very quickly because exchanging mp3 files freely and having any music desired right at your fingertips had never been possible before. However, this program that provided the privilege of having free instant music to download did not last long, it was shut down after just two years by

Nowadays, many other software and websites have emerged with the same concept as Napster. WinMX, Kazaa, Morpheus, and many others are basically doing the same thing as Napster, but they have not been shut down by the government. But what makes it ironic is that since Napster is no longer a free service, others are still managing themselves as a free music website. Napster was one of the first to take the big blow while others are taking more precautions where they will not suffer

The downside of file sharing brings in more problems such as viruses and hackers to many people's computer systems. With the files being in a person's hard drive, the risk of downloading from another person's computer and acquiring a virus unknowingly is growing greater and greater. More people are able to get into a person's system and complete annihilate a person's hard drive. Even Internet security has become a major issue and identity theft is on the rise. Regulating such sites (including Napster) is important to the consumer. The legal responsibilities of the music companies and the government are far greater than they had expected by ensuring the safety of the communities they serve.

Parker, B. (2005). Introduction to Globalization and Business: Relationships and Responsibilities. Retrieved from The University of Phoenix eBook Collection Data

Napster argued that it was only involved in the fair use of copyrighted material. If that was proven to be the case; they had not violated copyright laws. According to U.S. copyright law, a reproduction of a particular work may be considered “fair” if used for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, or

The way Napster worked is by searching other peers "shared" files. Let's say that someone was searching for any song by the band Metallica, the search would report back what is available to be downloaded. Once you double-click on that first mp3 that you would like to download, you officially become "fair game" for the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). After the birth of Napster, there was an explosion of programs that tried to leech off their fame. The next big thing comes when a new and more efficient program to share files emerges. During 2002, a program called BitTorrent arises. This program revolutionized peer-to-peer downloading for many reasons. First and foremost, because of the percentage of broadband users, downloading a music file has become an extremely quick and painless task. Using Napster with a phone-line connection, it would take an average of half an hour to download one song. With BitTorrent and the increase of broadband users, it takes a matter of minutes (if even) to download the entire album. But why is BitTorrent so successful? BitTorrent's successfulness is attributed to the method users share their files. Instead of downloading the file from one user, BitTorrent breaks up the file into thousands of pieces and takes a part of the file from each user that is willing to share it. For example, let's say that there are 10 other peers downloading the T.V. show Lost, 11

Online piracy is commonly referred to as a threat to businesses in the creative industries. The WTO Agreement on Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (a.k.a. “the TRIPS” agreement) defines piracy as:

First, it is important to discuss the direct, contributory and vicarious infringement claims against Napster. Direct copyright infringement claims are based on a breach of a copyright owners’ exclusive rights to the copyrighted work(s). A&M Records, Inc. v. Napster, Inc., 239 F.3d 1004, 1013 (9th Cir. 2001). Napster was found liable for this because the users used its platform to upload and download copyrighted music, thus infringing on two exclusive rights: reproduction and distribution. Id at 1014. Contributory copyright infringement claims are based on secondary infringers who have either actual or

There are types of music that can be downloaded on the computer. Napster, which can be downloaded at Napster.com, is a program that music can be found. The music is kept in a library and just a double click on the mouse lets one hear any song downloaded. These songs can be found with either the title or the artist of the song. I feel that Napster has a good thing going with the free music. However, I feel that it shouldn’t be completely be free. The artists of the music are loosing out on a lot of money. A solution to this problem could be that songs could not be downloaded to the Napster program until the record had made a certain amount of money. Although, right now Napster is in court trying to compromise on a decision that will make everyone who uses Napster, everyone who created Napster and the artist of music happy.