silver spring, md July 28, 2000—With the shutdown of Napster pending, many of its 20 million users are switching to “peer-to-peer” file sharing networks like Gnutella and FreeNet.

Unlike Napster, these networks are not owned by anyone and have no central server, so there is no company to sue and no main site that can be shut down.  The only way to shut down a “peer-to-peer” network is to go after individual users, which would be prohibitively expensive.

“Napster was a great way for me to sample new music by major artists and to explore new music genres,” says Bruce Fries, author of The MP3 and Internet Audio Handbook (www.MP3Handbook.com).  “With Napster, I’ve been able to sample music that wasn’t played on the local radio stations.  I’ve purchased CDs from well-known artists and from artists that I wouldn’t have known about otherwise.  Now that the court has ruled against Napster, I plan to use Gnutella.”

Many people believe that file sharing services are here to stay and that the record labels are making a mistake by not embracing the technology and finding ways to profit from it and pay royalties to the artists and songwriters.

“Napster would never have existed if the labels had fulfilled the demand for individual songs, in MP3 format, from major artists,” says co-author Marty Fries.  “People are fed up with spending money for CDs with only one good song and a lot of filler.  The industry needs to transition back to offering singles and eventually offer subscription services, similar to Napster.”

Fries’ book has been called “The Bible of MP3” and is used by several universities, including UCLA and California Tech, as a textbook for courses on multimedia audio.  The book explores the impact of downloadable formats like MP3 on the recording industry and includes case studies of issues related to copyright laws and online music.  The book also includes instructions for downloading music, listening to Internet radio, creating and playing MP3 files, connecting a PC to a stereo system and recording custom CDs.

To arrange an interview with either author or obtain a review copy of the book, contact Susan Harris at 301-545-0888 or seharris@mindspring.com.

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