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So we ran in there

and said, hey,

We need to come

to an agreement here.

It should be easy because

You're not going

to stop technology.

Um, and tell us

what you want us to do.

We want to cooperate.

And um, and guess what?

Nobody really cooperated.

And it never got resolved.

It's still not resolved,

it's 12 years later.

And that's pretty pathetic.

Ultimately, we were gonna

have to figure out

A revenue model.

And when, by the time

we started talking

To the labels,

we were more than happy

To turn the whole thing over

to the labels.

And basically,

become their digital music

Distribution service.

We always wanted that.

I recall we contacted them

And started having conversations

And we had serious conversations

In about september.

Of 1999.

Explaining that there

was a problem here

And they needed licenses,

but it would, it would be

Great for them to be talking

with the companies

About licenses

and so on and so forth.

And when it became clear

that they were just

Stringing us along

and they really had no

Intention of actually

negotiating licenses,

We filed a lawsuit in december.

We're being charged

with con-Con...

contributory...

contributory and vicarious

infringement,

Or something to that effect.

Basically saying that

since you know about it,

You guys should be held liable.

They're claiming that we did,

But we can't really

discuss anything...

and yeah, did we know?

Yeah, we knew.

But...

we also knew that...

this thing called

the internet existed.

And it was new.

And as it evolved,

These things were

going to start to happen

And things were gonna

have to change.

And the way in which

the world worked

Was gonna have to change.

And we were just

the catalysts in that.

When indiana university

banned napster,

Student chad paulsen

put up a website in protest.

Within weeks, over

13,000 students

Had joined paulsen

in his effort to free napster.

It's not really necessarily

napster itself,

It's the software and the

ideals behind the program.

It's like going to a rock

concert, you know, just

Listen to a new bands,

Listen to up and coming music

And indiana university

is just shutting it down.

I u and many universities

nation-Wide,

Maintain that they

banned napster

Because it put an

enormous strain

On their internet connection.

What's up man,

i'm with mtv news.

I was wondering if you had

any mp3s on your computer?

So uh, how many mp3s

do you have on your computer?

About 600.

Maybe like a hundred

or something.

Uh, six or seven thousand.

Come again?

Six or seven thousand.

- For real?

- Yeah.

How many mp3s

you have on your computer?

Uh, probably like 300.

For real,

where'd you get them from?

Uh, truthfully, most of them

from napster.

Are you a pirate?

Well, i don't know.

My roommate does the whole

Computer thing.

Margaret are you a pirate?

What we had was basically

a nuts and bolts capacity issue.

Our internet connection

to the outside world

Was being taken up nearly 61%

by users of napsters

On, napster on campus.

So, we had to

decrease that significantly,

Or we had to ban it.

It very much felt like

now everyone was coming

To grips with the fact

that this is something that

They're going to

have to deal with.

I think at first,

they were trying to...

you know, they were really

trying to be like no.

This is just not

going to happen.

But now it's obviously so big,

it's out of their control.

For the first time,

the audience has gotten

To the technology

before the industry.

Before the music business.

Why are

the record companies afraid?

The record companies are afraid

Because they'll be

forced to share.

File sharing and this

whole new notion of people

Getting music through the

internet, the downloadable

Distribution, to me,

i look at it as the new radio.

I mean we care very much

about artists

And so we think that there

is a solution to there's,

You know, a way that the

technology can be adapted

To-To-To benefit you know,

all of the, the parties

Involved. The artists,

the industry and the users.

We think right now,

it's definitely a viable system

For all three and we think it,

you know, it can be

Modified and can be improved

to be, you know,

Even more valuable.

You know, there were these,

these iconic artists

Who we'd grown up idolizing.

Some of whom wanted to kill us

And some of whom,

thought we were the, the answer.

I'm all for technology

And its interesting,

the exchange of music,

But the way that it's set up

Right now,

it's theft,

Basically. Pure and simple.

I'm bootleg proof, you dig.

I, i got people that you know,

go around the world

You know,

smashing on stuff like that.

You heard about

the i love you virus?

My peoples have something

to do with that.

I mean i can just do that to 'em

if i have to maybe.

I think this aspect

of technology

Is really gonna bring uh,

a lot of different angles of

Life and commerciality

out of to the corporate world

And give it back

to the individual.

Just give the fans the music.

You know what i'm saying?

Uh, the internet is

just a way for you to just...

go right into it and

you give it to the fans.

It's great, isn't it?

Isn't that good? Isn't it?

Napster is, is bull[beep].

Is that that internet site?

That's where there's the, the...

trading of music.

We don't, we don't really know

enough about that,

So we can't really,

not really into computers.

It's bringing true democracy

Back into the music business.

And it's changed,

it's forcing the artists

To change the way

that we relate to the consumer.

A musician goes out there

and works hard

And pays their dues.

Why would you expect them

To work for free.

There's no doubt, uh, in my mind

That the, the future

of music is free.

To stop fans from

trading music on the internet.

Even if it's not through

a company or a website,

Fans are gonna trade

music on their own.

There's no stopping it.

You know, that,

this revolution is,

Is already taking place.

It's now, this is now

and we accept it and we get it.

And we're gonna grow with it.

And it's just another

addition to technology

And i'm a technology freak.

What do you say

to the artists that are so,

You know, just so loving

it the, the new guy,

The, like

the fred dursts of the world,

Who just they think it's

the greatest thing for music?

Um, well

he's a moron to start with.

Okay, alright.

What more needs to be said

about that?

Nothing else, i guess.

We get a lot of bands who,

who send us email

And say, you know,

we've been, we put our music

Up on napster, we,

we started sharing it and now

You know, we, we see a hundred

other people that

Have it, they're listening to it

and eventually

That translates into more people

at their shows,

Selling more cds.

There were so many

success stories,

Dispatch was a great one

because they were,

You know, a band and

they were touring

And their cds weren't for sale.

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