Wednesday, July 12, 2000 The University Daily Kansan Section B · Page 5 We want our MP3s What does a heavy metal band have in common with a Republican senator from Utah? A problem with the availability of free music files online. Metallica and online music executives testified this week on Capitol Hill before a Senate panel chaired by Senator Orrin Hakey B Uth Hatch, R-Uth. Now, I don't know about you, but I am old enough to re me b em b when politicians and rock stars shook their fists at each other, not shook hands. Juan H. Heath But I don't believe that the Recording Industry Association of America has as much to be concerned about as they believe. Granted, Wired.com reports that CD sales are down in cities near college campuses, but just try sticking a computer disc in your car's sound system. CDs are kinda like books, while you can get tunes for free online, there's still something tactile and compelling about carrying around a case full of music. Because if you like a group enough, then you'll go out and buy their music. Just look at Britnite Spears, 'N Sync or even Metallica (I bought their S&M disc and recommend it highly. Have their sales dwindled? It's producers of those late-night staples, infomercials, who should be more concerned about MP3 files and other forms of electronic duplication of music. If you hear some cheesy tune that you listened to as a kid at the skating rink, now you can just download it instead of plunking down $15. www.mp3.com The instigators of this whole music mess. One of the first sites to provide the technology to convert music to an electronic format that then could be transferred online. It has categories of music that you can peruse, but supposedly has sold out by making a deal with the recording industry. www.napster.com www.spinfrenzy.com The center of electronic controversy. While Napster itself does not provide the free music files, its design allows users to connect and interact with each other, swapping music files. The program also includes an MP3 file player and messaging software that allows users to communicate with each other. A rival to Napster, but has categories of music like MP3.com. This site also includes videos and photos. Metallica accuses Web groups of piracy The Associated Press WASHINGTON — Metallica drummer Lars Urlrich — an outspoken critic of Internet music sharing — told a Senate committee yesterday that government intervention was needed to stop what he called Internet music piracy. "I don't think there is a way this can be worked out without your involvement," said Ulrich, whose band led the charge against Napster Inc., whose service allows computer users to make perfect copies of digital recordings on the Internet. The Senate Judiciary Committee, led by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah — a songwriter himself — asked musicians, record company representatives and Internet company executives to explain the industry's fight with companies like Napster and Gnutella, a similar service. "I think we must let the market work and let history be our guide in not squashing this technology too soon," said Napster CEO Dave Barry, noting that copyright complaints had been worked out with the arrival of radio, television and satellite television. Barry was backed up by a former member of the folk rock group the Byrds. "I think the market will sort itself out," said Roger McGuinn, who uses the Internet to promote his current solo career. Hatch, along with ranking Democrat Sen. Patrick Leahy, DVt., say they are still trying to decide whether government intervention is truly necessary. "We must protect the rights of the creator." Hatch said. "But we cannot, in the name of copyright, unduly burden consumers and the promising technology the Internet presents to all of us." Metallica and rapper Dr. Dre have been the artists most critical of Internet music duplication, and the recording industry has sued to Napster lets users swap songs for free by trading MP3 files, a compression format that turns music on compact discs into small computer files. stop companies like Napster and MP3.com, which already has settled some of the lawsuits against it. Free duplication means that artists won't get paid for their work, Urlich said. "Napster hijacked our music without asking," he said. "They never sought our permission, our catalog of music simply became available as free downloads on the Napster system." However, Barry said Napster users who sample free music ultimately helped artists by going out and buying music. Gnutella software developer Gene Kan said the software community the "pirates," he admitted would not be stopped by mandating encryption, setting up licensing fees or trying to mandate that people identify themselves online. Pet Rock pioneer wins top prize for bad writing By Ron Harris Associated Press Writer By Ron Harris SAN FRANCISCO — The man who started the Pet Rock craze of the 1970s topped himself yesterday — or maybe sank to a new low — by winning the annual Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest for really bad writing. Gary Dahl's truly awful winning entry: "The heather-encrusted Headlands, veiled in fog as thick as smoke in a crowded pub, hunched precariously over the moors, their rocky elbows slipping off land's end, their bulbous, craggy noses thrust into the thick foam of the North Sea like bearded old men falling asleep in their pints." In 1975, the advertising executive invented the Pet Rock, a rock in a cardboard box that sold for $3.95. Brilliant in its simplicity and absurdity, the Pet Rock caught on around the world and millions were sold. "This is even more important than the Pet Rock," he said. "Now that I've won this award I can just hang it up. I'm finished. There's nothing else I can do." Dahl said his writing was inspired by a recent pub-hopping tour of England with his brother. The contest, held annually since 1983 by professors in the English department at San Jose State University, dares entrants to compose bad opening sentences to imaginary novels. The competition is named for 19th century English novelist Edward George Bulwer-Lytton, whose book "Paul Clifford" begins: "It was a dark and stormy night." 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