I was willing to go along with everyone and say Metallica was trying to stifle technology by trying to ban users from Napster. Lars however does hit the nail on the head when talking about future possibilities with digital media and the Internet... Although I do not think MP3's equal the quality of CD's I do think as technology marches forward and the media and transfer of data improves it will affect the entertainment industry. This includes more musicians, filmmakers, and authors. I think Lars and Metallica should be respected for the fact that they are bringing a real concern for artists up, I don't think the band should be vilified for wanting to know more about a potentially dangerous career threat. Anyone on Slashdot that questions his motives should think about it realistically, if someone could download everything you have worked on (we are not talking about open source you have done) and they could get it for free, you would be more than a little bent about it as well. Lastly don't get me started on taping records; it is a completely moot point. Someone could trade tapes with everyone they know and still not come close to reaching the amount of people the Internet has access to.
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I was willing to go along with everyone and say Metallica was trying to stifle technology by trying to ban users from Napster. Lars however does hit the nail on the head when talking about future possibilities with digital media and the Internet... Although I do not think MP3's equal the quality of CD's I do think as technology marches forward and the media and transfer of data improves it will affect the entertainment industry. This includes more musicians, filmmakers, and authors. I think Lars and Metallica should be respected for the fact that they are bringing a real concern for artists up, I don't think the band should be vilified for wanting to know more about a potentially dangerous career threat. Anyone on Slashdot that questions his motives should think about it realistically, if someone could download everything you have worked on (we are not talking about open source you have done) and they could get it for free, you would be more than a little bent about it as well. Lastly don't get me started on taping records; it is a completely moot point. Someone could trade tapes with everyone they know and still not come close to reaching the amount of people the Internet has access to.