Low down on the street, ZDNet Music searched through the trash to bring you the best in industry dirt. This work has proved interesting in both legal and social forums. The vigorous Napster has rallied behind clever lawyers, and Metallica has garnered hate from every corner of the globe. Read on for the latest insider buzz.
Napster recently conceded to Metallica's demands and removed some 300,000 users from its servers. However, a clever pirate figured out a means to gerrymander the system. The fiends subsequently posted the instructions on "Circumventing Napster Bans" user forums in retaliation to the prohibition. Now though, the message boards have been turned off by Napster staff. Apparently someone at Napster actually has regard for the law.
Now would I leave you down and out like that? No! To help aid and abet illicit copyright infringement and promote piracy online, ZDNet Music has compiled a simple guide to eluding the Napster ban.
Frank Bourbon's Hot Tip
1) First, uninstall the previous version of Napster from your hard drive.
2) If Napster is unable to uninstall itself, you need to remove the following keys from your registry:
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HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Napster HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ CurrentVersion\Explorer\MenuOrder\Start Menu\&Programs\Napster HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ CurrentVersion\Explorer\MenuOrder\Start Menu\&Programs\Napster HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Napster v2.0 Beta 5
3) Now, remove every instance of the following code from your registry: A1AD8C13-1383-5343-DCC38E43FF0AAE
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4) Go to the Napster web site and download Napster again.
5) Install Napster using a new login and new e-mail address.
6) Continue using Napster, and pretend nothing has happened.
In related news, Napster has manipulated a clause of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) to its benefit. Under the conditions of the DMCA, if an Internet Service Provider (ISP) receives complaints of a copyright violation, the ISP is required to remove that user from its system. However, should that user believe that he or she has been wrongfully accused, the DMCA allows the submission of a legal counter-notification. The copyright holder then has ten days to take legal action against the individual user. If Metallica initiates no legal action, Napster must restore service to every user in question! This may prove to be the final insult that pushes Metallica over the edge (as if it could even go further).
Aside from the usual banter between Howard King (Metallica and Dr. Dre's lawyer) and Eileen Richardson (Napster CEO), other buzz falls off by the wayside. ZDNet Music encourages you to take a stand for one side or the other and then be overly vocal about your opinion. Perhaps post endless opinionated messages to some inane music e-mail list. Or even build a
At any rate, that's all the dirt worth sifting. Until next week, I'm Frank Bourbon, hard on the street a capite ad calcem.
--Lars Ulrich, Metallica
Very eloquent indeed. Now that's a free lesson.
Frank Bourbon is always hard on the street -- digging through the trash, uncovering the dirt, and sifting through the music industry debris. To add your dirt to the pile, shoot him an e-mail at frank_bourbon@gamespot.com.
Giving the finger:
"This is not just about money (as some of the more cynical people will
think). This is as close as you get to what's right and what's wrong. On the
artistic side, Metallica creates music for ourselves first and our audience
second... Napster and other such sites were obviously not conceived to lose
money. They, like the labels, must make money or they're out of business.
And whatever money they are generating from their site is dirty money."
