CHUCK D IN WASHINGTON May 26 2000 dotmusic.com Chuck D has spoken out to defend Napster in Congress. Testifying before the the Small Business Committee and an audience of hundreds, the Public Enemy rapper called Napster "the radio of the new millennium". "You're going to have a massive international pot of artists making their material in their basement", said D, "...and marketing it on the Web". The Congressional hearing was instigated to discuss the controversies surrounding MP3 music sharing applications and debate a possible need to amend the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). "What I wanted to do with this hearing", said Committee Chairman James Talent, "...is lay the groundwork for whatever action we may think is appropriate." Arguing against Napster was Tom Silverman, CEO of Tommy Boy Records, who described the file-trading scene as "a culture of infringement". "Perfectly reasonable people who would never walk into a Tower Records and steal a compact disc because they believe it to be wrong are doing the same thing on the Internet when they seek out and dowload illegal copies of music." The Progressive Policy Institute, which plans to reduce Internet piracy, took the opportunity to present a paper proposing that Napster be required to collect users' personal details such as names, addresses and credit card numbers. "With the cloak of anonymity removed", the group state, "...copyright holders can identify the real culprits." The report also urged for judges to be granted greater powers to close down companies like Napster when proven that they encourage piracy. But Gene Hoffman, CEO of legitimate pay-per-download MP3 site EMusic.com, believes that the digital distribution divide can be bridged without governmental intervention. "Now is not the time for changes to the DMCA. But music fans must recognise that artists and record labels must be compensated for their work". comment on this article e-mail this to a friend start a discussion [about i-drive] writing index thoughts dotmusic index musicbank index Problems? Questions? Suggestions? Contact me: mail@tobyslater.com back to top back to home page

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