Napster

            Some may say that Napster stands for making everyone on the Internet unified for sharing music and media. Others say that Napster is actually nothing more than deliberate steeling. Money, record companies say, is being lost in the music industry every year due to programs such as this. In many instances, the downloaded songs provoke some to actually buy the album. Others, such as the students sued for downloading, have a collection of over a thousand CD's. All production companies have come together to stop these downloadable archives, but some have tried to continue with regulation. Now some archives are taking action and filing suits against minors who have downloaded lots of free songs.
             Since the closing of Napster, several new programs have been released in which file sharing is allowed. Programs named Kazaa, and Morpheus are among the few in which have become so popularized. But is the sharing of data among many, really considered stealing? .
             Napster is probably the best thing that has ever happened to music. Being exposed to so many types of music and media right at your fingertips is unbelievable. With the shut down of Napster, the illegal downloading process will not be cut off immediately or even at all, because people will look for alternatives. After all, around 20 million people have already gotten hooked on the chance of getting free music. Why would they immediately stop now? Napster, the phenomenon, will live on, as more Napster-like programs start building around the net.
             Napster gives music lovers the opportunity to sample songs before purchasing the CD. Many people purchase CD's, and listen to only one song on the album, which can generally be a waste of money. Napster is a good way to sample songs from a particular CD before deciding to buy it. As a result, music lovers have the ability to find the CD they really want, and thus leading to increasing CD sales.