Music software spreads like wildfire on Net

 

latest developments

It's a complicated battle between Internet freedoms and artists' rights, and so far, the Net seems to be winning. As a new copyright law looks to stem the piracy of music online, a program that allows people to grab MP3s continues to proliferate in different versions on the Internet.

Napster suit tests new copyright law The Digital Millennium Copyright Act is being examined in a case that pits the powerful recording industry against a wildly popular but controversial music start-up. Programmers help "Napster" clones proliferate A new portal launches that aims to assemble the open-source programming community's work on Gnutella, a popular piece of file-swapping software capable of turning anyone with a computer into a music pirate. previous coverage Hacked video technology offers look at MP3-like films A new video technology is floating through the computer underground that holds the promise of doing for movies what MP3 has done for digital music. Napster hack allows free distribution of software update A new program has been posted on the Internet that transforms a popular music-trading network into a full-blown online swap meet capable of trading videos and software.