COURTESY: MI2N News Network - http://www.mi2n.com

Napster Loses First Round in Court

WASHINGTON, DC, May 8, 2000 – Napster, the company
that provides users with a hub of central computer
servers to which they connect and share millions of
pirated sound recordings, lost its first attempt to
evade liability for copyright infringement today.

Chief Judge Marilyn Hall Patel rejected Napster's
claim that it is a "mere conduit. "The decision
announced late Friday, followed a March 27 hearing in
the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of
California.

"This hearing was Napster's attempt to escape
responsibility for aiding and abetting wide scale
piracy and -- not surprisingly -- they lost," said
Hilary Rosen, President and CEO of the Recording
Industry Association of America (RIAA). "Clearly the
case will now move forward. Napster just lost its
last delaying tactic," Rosen declared.

Many artists and their managers are speaking out
against Napster for stealing their creative works.

"The court's decision today is the first step in
responding to those artists," added Rosen.

To review a complete list of artists quotes visit
http://www.riaa.com. The lawsuit, which was filed on
December 7, 1999 by the RIAA on behalf of its member
companies, charges Napster with contributory and
vicarious copyright infringement.

The RIAA is a trade association whose members create,
manufacture and/or distribute approximately 90 percent
of all legitimate sound recordings producedand sold in
the United States.

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COURTESY: MI2N News Network - http://www.mi2n.com