If the RIAA was somehow able to restrict Napster to only public-domain music, Napster would surely die. By far, the biggest reason why people even use Napster is to illegally download copyrighted music. At my school, students go around selling CD-R's full of music they downloaded off of Napster. They ask someone what songs they want on their CD, stating that they have all music available via Napster, charge anywhere from $9 to $15 per CD, and make a nice profit. Personal use of MP3's aquired through Napster is understandable, but profiting from it is highly objectionable, IMO.
What would happen if Napster only permitted public-domain music? Do you really think that millions of users would still be flocking to Napster? Yeah, right...
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What would happen if Napster only permitted public-domain music? Do you really think that millions of users would still be flocking to Napster? Yeah, right...
I am pretty sure that when the author stated "open-source", he meant "free."
The Magneto/Xavier issue is analogous to Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X: same solution achieved by different methods.