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Metallica fingers 335,435 Napster users



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Metallica fingers 335,435 Napster users

May 1, 2000, 6:30 p.m. PT
http://home.cnet.com/category/0-1005-200-1798138.html

       Metallica has been taking names. 

    The heavy metal band, which is suing music-swapping company Napster
for what the musicians say are massive copyright violations, says it has
identified more than 335,000 individuals who were allegedly sharing the
band's songs online in violation of copyright laws.

    The band's attorneys will deliver close to 60,000 pages of documents
to the small software company Wednesday afternoon, asking that Napster
block all of those individuals from the service. It's the first time
Napster or other file-swapping software users have been identified in bulk
as potential copyright pirates.

    "I don't know if it's going to put a chill on the user end," said
Howard King, the Los Angeles attorney who represents Metallica and rap
artist Dr. Dre, who also is suing Napster. "But it certainly is going to
show other artists what they can do to get their work out of Napster."

    The massive number of individual names to be unloaded on Napster's
front door could send shock waves through the online music community. Many
individuals using the software or rival products believed they were
operating anonymously or that individual actions would go unnoticed among
the massive quantity of files being traded at any given time.

    Napster and a handful of similar programs have allowed hundreds of
thousands of computer users to open their hard drives and share music
files with others online. People can remain superficially anonymous, but
enough information is transmitted by the Napster service to track many
individuals to their specific computers, network administrators say.

    Attorneys for Metallica say they hired NetPD, an online consulting
firm, to monitor the Napster service this past weekend. The firm came up
with more than 335,000 individual users who had made the band's content
available online, the lawyers said.

    Napster has consistently refused to remove specific artists' content
from its service, noting that it is only a directory for the individuals
who are trading the files. But the company has said it would eject users
who are specifically identified as copyright violators.

    Napster had no comment on the news.

    Metallica's action is the latest development in what appears to be a
campaign aimed at dissuading people from using Napster by adding an
element of risk.

    The band initially sued three universities that allowed students to
use Napster, charging that they were assisting in copyright piracy. All
three quickly backed down, blocking or sharply restricting use of the
software on their campuses.

    Metallica and Dr. Dre also included slots for unnamed students and
universities in their lawsuits, saying they would be added later as the
musicians obtained more information.

    The current list of Metallica song-traders will only be given to
Napster and will not be included in the lawsuit, King said. Dr. Dre has
not yet conducted his own search for pirates, but the same techniques will
likely be applied to the rapper's work if Napster does respond, the
attorney added.

    Another lawsuit against Napster, filed by the Recording Industry
Association of America (RIAA), is in federal court, where a judge is
expected to make a preliminary ruling any day.

    Metallica is scheduled to chat with fans online tomorrow at the
Artistsdirect.com Web site to explain its fight against Napster.

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