“After all the hype about Metallica suing Napster and the
Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) taking out law
suits against both Napster and MP3.com, the boot is now, if only
temporarily, on the other foot.”
“…MP3Board.com has this week announced that it is suing the
RIAA over its right to offer hypertext links to MP3 files. As it
points out, the use of hypertext links is exactly what portals like
Lycos do and the question is whether a search engine (which is
effectively what MP3Board.com is) supplier is required to edit the
hyperlinks it supports to other sites.”
“The truth is that it doesn’t much matter what you think about
the rights or wrongs of the case. The momentum is overwhelmingly
with the MP3 sites. The vandals are at the gates of Rome and
there is nothing that the music companies can do to stop them.
Even if MP3 sites were to be banned in the USA they will simply up
roots and set up in Sweden or Tonga or wherever is convenient. This
is a classic case of the Internet creating a new delivery channel
and the dinosaurs of the music industry being too slow to wake up
to the fact. Instead of trying to fight MP3 the industry should
be trying to control it and turn it to its advantage. Consider
the benefits: no costly record stores, no manufacturing costs, no
delivery charges. MP3 isn’t a problem: it’s an
opportunity.”