On 5/15/00, Marty Hayes <9ball[_at_]hostsite.net> wrote:
>
> On Sat, 13 May 2000, Robert Cumbow <rcumbow[_at_]grahamdunn.com> wrote:
> >
> > That may be so; but how hard would it be to rewrite a little code so
> > that the Napster software searches for files with the ".pdf" or ".doc"
> > extension rather than the ".mp3" extension? I have to agree with
> > Lynn. From where I sit it looks as if Napster has significant
> > noninfringing uses.
>
> The rewrite potential may very well be possible, but that's not where
> we are right now. Right now, in current form, it is expressly a tool
> made to make unauthorized reproductions of digital music files. ...
It is a tool to facilitate distribution of .mp3 files. Those files may as well contain music in the public domain, or music that the author him/herself wants to distribute. It seems to me those are substantial non-infringing uses even without the capability to locate ..pdf or .doc files. How do you distinguish Napster from any internet search engine with which you can search for "*.mp3". The only difference I see is that you are searching hard drives instead of websites. It is probably true that Napster is predominantly used in fact to facilitate the unauthorized copying and distribution of protected works, but I'm not sure it follows that it is not capable of substantial non-infringing uses.
John Noble
<jnoble[_at_]dgsys.com>
Received on Tue May 16 2000 - 16:34:09 GMT
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