The university made the announcement Friday in response to a lawsuit filed by the heavy metal rock band Metallica, which named USC, Yale University and Indiana University as defendants, accusing the schools of encouraging students to pirate copyrighted music. Yale and Indiana were dropped from the action after announcing they would block access to the Napster site. An Associated Press report today said the university made the announcement on Friday in response to a lawsuit filed by the heavy metal godfathers of Metallica, which named USC, Yale University and Indiana University as defendants in charges alleging the schools allowed students to pirate copyrighted music. Venture capitalists too have elected to keep their distance, wary of charges that Napster promotes piracy. As the judge prepares to rule on the first of the lawsuits, Soundscan statistics show that people are buying more albums than ever.
Money is involved.
And they are losing it. The music industry says Napster encourages music piracy. That's all very interesting, but there's a bigger issue. These technologies will change the way the Web is organized and how you use the Internet. More than a computer file format, it is changing the way we listen to, collect and even buy music, both classical and pop.