Napster Promotes Internet Piracy

To the editors:

In response to the recent Metallica suit (Editorial, April 26), I found it heartening to see a band finally standing up against Napster. It's disappointing that many students still try to pervert "freedom of speech" into a freedom of piracy.

There are many simple ways for Napster to cut down on piracy, but so far it has done nothing. Here's one example: Metallica has made it very clear that none of their work is authorized for free distribution. Napster's best feature, their search engine, quickly shows a number of users with Metallica MP3's. Why hasn't Napster banned them? Maybe it's because once this starts, Napster would end up with very few (if any) users left.

You can never eliminate piracy, just as you can never eliminate theft. But like speeding, just because it has become mainstream doesn't mean it should be legal. And it certainly doesn't make it right.

Kai-Hua Yu '03

April 26, 2000

Springfest and Swing

To the editors:

Hugh P. Liebert can borrow my CD player, if he'd like (Column, April 26). Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, for instance, is not a swing revival band but owes more to the punk movement of the 80s and the ska of the 90s. The "similar bands" Liebert mentions are not at all similar, except in the fact that they are bands: Squirrel Nut Zippers are a ragtime/Dixieland effort, and the Brian Setzer Orchestra is a rockabilly throwback--all three often lumped together by neo-swing detractors. The Voodoo Daddies are a great choice for Springfest this year--enrollment in Literature and Arts B-80: Swing Era and the success of swing lessons offered around campus are good evidence for that--and certainly more applicable than P-Funk's aging 70s sound.

Anthony J. Gabriele '03

April 26, 2000