MP3 troubles
The free availability of music over the net continues to cause problems. On 10 May the online music company MP3.com announced that it would prevent access to major label music from its My.MP3.com database, in response to a US District Court ruling in April that the company infringes the copyrights of major record companies. Song-swapping software company Napster is also in trouble, because heavy metal band Metallica's fans have been using the Napster service to make unauthorised copies of the band's songs. Metallica sued Napster in April, for copyright infringement, and Napster have now prevented access by more than 300,000 fans. Meanwhile record company EMI has announced the launch on 1 July 2000 of a trial version of its service to sell downloads of music over the net. Beginning in North America, prices will be similar to those used for traditional sales, and there are plans to expand outside North America later in the year.
Posted: 12 May 2000
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