Music piracy on the Internet has become a major issue because of the invention of Napster, software that allows people to share Mp3s, compressed CD-quality sound files (Greenfeld 57). Since this program provides currently 38 million users throughout the world the ability to share pirated music Mp3s, it has become the object of many lawsuits by music record companies. Napster should be regulated in order to control music piracies. Firstly, the piracy is simply against the copyright law. Secondly, using Napster to share pirated music between homes and the world causes retail recordings to fall short in their market sales. Piracy is simply against the copyright law, which is on almost everything that is created by someone who wants to claim the credit for it, including music.
Everybody is aware of this law, yet it is ignored and broken again and again. It is just like any other law, and so people should be prevented from breaking this one. By regulating Napster, this law can be once again enforced. Using the program steals away the credit from artists. This is because instead of going to stores and purchasing the artists’ CDs like the old-fashioned way, online users now download the song off the Internet, without paying a dime in today’s rapidly developing technology. Napster takes the credit that the artists’ should rightfully obtain. Thus, the sales’ of the artists’ CDs drop down and pretty soon fewer and fewer customers are going into stores actually buying the CDs that the artists’ are releasing. People are affecting the music industry because of a program that was created by one teenager who is now gaining millions from profit. One lawyer even described Napster’s actions as an attempt to “usurp” and “undermine” (Appeals) the music industry. This is obviously not right. The music that the artist is producing should be purchased, not stolen from them. Being frank, downloading songs from the Internet is basically stealing because the credit that should be given to the artist is taken away. Some may argue saying that Napster should not be regulated because it cannot be blamed anyways for pirating. The Napster’s attorneys are explaining that it is “impossible” to “monitor and control what users share.” (Appeals) They even think that taking actions against Napster will only increase the number of Napster-like programs on the net. But this excuse is weak and illogical because Napster is the sole cause of pirating on the Internet. Pirating is encouraged even more as the music files are passed around, traded, and even sold online. As shown in the reasons above, it can be seen clearly that Napster should be regulated. Piracy is against the law and should not be broken at the user’s pleasure. The program steals credit away from artists who deserve it. Their business is interrupted and influenced by each user who goes online and downloads the pirated version of the song instead of purchasing it.