Fans voice outrage about Napster ruling

Napster's message boards lit up today with angry comments only minutes after a federal judge's ruling against the music-swapping company.

More than 100 people crowded into the Napster "alternative channel" to vent their frustration. Most comments were directed toward Dr. Dre and Metallica, two early opponents of the service. One message went so far as to suggest that Napster fans call U.S. District Court Judge Marilyn Hall Patel's chamber to complain about the ruling--and it included the judge's phone number.

Patel today issued an injunction against the music-swapping service, barring it from assisting in trading copyrighted works. Napster proponents said the injunction, which takes effect Friday at midnight PT, will essentially cripple the service.

"This is all Metallica's fault!" a Napster user who goes by the screen name "coolo85" wrote to the alternative channel.

Wrote another, who goes by the screen name "greenery": "I hate all the damn artists that are against Napster--I don't care who they are."

"Everyone spit at Metallica next time you see them," "Ecleticjoey" said shortly after the ruling was made public.

Some people even suggested a boycott of the musicians who publicly supported closing Napster's service.

"Everyone should boycott any artist trying to shut down Napster," said "Bailey3."

Others knew the judge's decision meant the clock was suddenly ticking on Napster to close access to its servers.

"I better start downloading!" wrote "Ultravi01." Meanwhile, "Yahooo" wrote: "Hope to download all we can in two days."

Still others expressed their confusion about what the ruling will mean for them and their digital music collections.

"SweetAngel666" asked: "So...will we still have our songs and we just won't be able to download anymore???"

And "I just spend $500 on a MP3 player," said "jay580."