The whole Napster trial has really got me thinking. I am an avid Napster user, as I share something like 130 files every time I sign on. I quite obviously love music, and my computer has become an extension of that. I was hesitant about joining Napster at first, but when the debate began to heat up a little over a year ago, I couldn't resist. I think that by now, everyone has heard the Napster debates, especially computer users. I'm pretty sure everyone that visits this site knows exactly what I'm talking about, because let's face it, in order to find my little nook of a site, you have to really be looking for it. I mean really, really looking for it. If you've found my site, you've also no doubt found Napster by now. It is a really sleek system for sharing mp3's. But does it violate copyright laws? Unquestionably. I agree wholeheartedly on that matter with the record companies. Does it cost them record sales? That's the point where I break from the corporate whores. I think that Napster is selling more records for them. If I here about a band from someone or somewhere that I've never heard before, I log on, and check it out. If I like it, I go buy the album. Why? Compare the sound quality on a cd to most mp3's. There's no comparison. Cd's still blow the shit out of digital media, particularly for an audiophile like myself. Are people burning the songs to cds? Definitely. But do they sound as good? Not a chance. Plus you have to consider how many people on Napster actually own a cd burner. I do. At best, I would say that one-quarter of them do, purely from an economic standpoint. Burners aren't cheap. When I got mine two years ago, it was an extra $250. Now they go for half that. But most people that look to buy a computer are looking more to get a reliable machine that will allow them to word process and surf the web at a bare minimum of a cost. How else do you explain the popularity of fucking Gateway? So how many of these potential criminals (according to copyright laws), are actually doing it? Not many. Of my group of friends that have a computer with a burner, it would affect one of five. I do burn songs that I find on Napster, though. They're all of the rare, live, or cover variety. All of which are not copyrighted, and that none of the record companies have a problem with. Why? Because they daren't making any money off of them to begin with. The real bender that I would like to throw into this whole Napster thing is the portable mp3 player. Most of the same companies that are complaining about Napster are producing portable digital media players, further feeding the frenzy that they are fighting. So why are they fighting? If they make money off of the mp3's, then they're making money off of the players and the media, the same fucking way they do it with cd's. They want the money twice, instead of just once. So now they're fighting Napster. So what does the media do? They show services comparable to Napster during every single story. The record companies are doing nothing more than helping their own deaths. Fuck them. I'll find a service just like Napster, and just use that. I've settled on WinMX.