As we stroll through the 21st century with headphones attached to jogging suits, that amazing medium known as the Internet is readily available to supply our ears with free music.
Problem is, some say it's illegal to download the sounds.
The arguments stem from a classic case of technology leaping ahead of the market and its regulators. It's an argument of copyrights, creative rights and ultimately, profits and who gets them. The instruments playing this dirge are the recording industry, Napster Inc., MP3 and the attorneys, and the tempo is changing quickly. In the case of Napster and its free music-sharing capabilities over the Net, the recording industry's lawyers are arguing in court that the company should be shut down. And while those players may be at the top of the musical food chain, on the streets, retailers could get hit in the wallet by all of this technological advancement.