boycott-riaa.com - Article: Maniac Fans Banned From Napster

Maniac Fans Banned From Napster

Posted by Heidi Chambers on February 8, 2001 at 5:52 PM (printer friendly)

With pressure coming from Sony Music, the popular peer-to-peer file sharing program of Napster was forced to ban users from its service for allegedly swapping unreleased music from the upcoming Manic Street Preachers album.

Legal threats from the Manic Street Preachers' label had Napster quickly blocking a number of users who held copies of the Manic's new music on their hard drives. Some people may wonder why Napster's response to this situation was so much faster than in other cases. (Like Metallica and Dre Dre.) The answer to that question is most likely one word, Bertelsmann. With Napster now trying to "legitimize" itself, the program started by Shawn Fanning, will probably handle alleged copyright infringement cases much quicker.

The new Manic Street Preachers album is titled "Know Your Enemy" and is due to be released on March 3rd 2001.

User Comments (These do not necessarily reflect the beliefs of this site)


Fozzie	Date: February 8, 2001 @ 6:24 PM manic street preachers...hmm dunno much about them so i would say they should be happy that ppl were downloading their stuff

Anonymous	Date: February 8, 2001 @ 7:06 PM This is fucking stupid. Artists should be glad that these users are sampling their album as they would with radio or mtv. Just because it is in mp3 format it is suddenly illegal?

Anonymous	Date: February 8, 2001 @ 8:23 PM No, it's illegal because you didnt pay for it and you are keeping it. Radio is different because you are in possesion of the music! but an mp3, you're getting something for nothing. The world doesnt work that way. Dont get me wrong, i'm all for mp3s! I'm just answering your question. It's not just because it's in a *.mp3 format that it's illegal...chow.

Anonymous	Date: February 8, 2001 @ 8:24 PM give em a chance, i mean just because they are like "backstreet boys" big, doesnt mean they dont minnd having their music stolen. It's theirs,they made and earned it. Just because they are a smallER band doesnt give us any mroe rgith to steal from them.

doobybrain	Date: February 8, 2001 @ 9:15 PM another stupid move by a record label and the artist involved. i really hope Sony did this without their permission, because i dont know why any artist, especially one that is so unknown (well, to me), would want users banned. first they are getting people angry and second they are probably losing some fans who know. on another note, i guess napster didnt do a very good job because i can still find their songs on almost all their servers. hehe ;) [doobybrain]

doobybrain	Date: February 8, 2001 @ 9:16 PM its not about stealing at all. its about getting their name out to potential fans who might like their music. [doobybrain]

doobybrain	Date: February 8, 2001 @ 9:20 PM he was probably SHARING it with other users is why hes probably on trial for it. not because he simply had it. Like Anon, im for mp3s, but this is just how laws and such work. :/ [doobybrain]

Anonymous	Date: February 8, 2001 @ 9:46 PM my wiener itches

Anonymous	Date: February 9, 2001 @ 12:49 AM I love napster and will dearly miss it once they change it to a pay service. In response to your post about this being stupid and it being illegal just because it's mp3. There are laws in effect that bring royalties to the artist for every single time a song is played on the air, be it TV or Radio.

Anonymous	Date: February 9, 2001 @ 1:08 AM and buring their music to CD-R for free.

Anonymous	Date: February 9, 2001 @ 1:08 AM burning!

Anonymous	Date: February 9, 2001 @ 3:36 AM This is pure Sony's merchandising (marketing)

RyanS	Date: February 9, 2001 @ 5:41 AM I agree with doob. I have got tons of CDs I've purchased because of mp3. Without it, I wouldn't have heard them then therefore bought their CD. I would ALWAYS rather have a full quality CD than a mp3 anyday. I guess some people still don't get it.

RyanS	Date: February 9, 2001 @ 5:48 AM Somehow, someway, I see this as a way for Sony to get this artist recognition. Their ban some users, the news gets hint, and now the artist's name is in the public view. And maybe they think that their have to go out and buy the CD instead. I think it's a bad move, but you never know what the labels are thinking nowadays.