Web 2.0 Evolution
A Web 2.0 site may allow users to interact and collaborate
with each other in a social media dialogue as creators of user-generated
content in a virtual community, in contrast to websites where people are
limited to the passive viewing of content. Examples of Web 2.0 include social
networking sites, blogs, wikis, video sharing sites, hosted services, web
applications, mash ups and folksonomies. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2.0
Web 2.0 is the term given to describe a second generation of
the World Wide Web that is focused on the ability for people to collaborate and
share information online. Web 2.0 basically refers to the transition from
static HTML Web pages to a more dynamic Web that is more organized and is based
on serving Web applications to users. Other improved functionality of Web 2.0
includes open communication with an emphasis on Web-based communities of users,
and more open sharing of information. Over time Web 2.0 has been used more as a
marketing term than a computer-science-based term. Blogs, wikis, and Web
services are all seen as components of Web 2.0. Web 2.0 was previously used as
a synonym for Semantic Web, but while the two are similar, they do not share
precisely the same meaning. http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/W/Web_2_point_0.html
Original Napster Site
Napster is a name given to two music-focused online services.
It was originally founded as a pioneering peer-to-peer file sharing Internet service
that emphasized sharing audio files, typically music, encoded in MP3 format.
The original company ran into legal difficulties over copyright infringement,
ceased operations and was eventually acquired by Roxio. In its second
incarnation Napster became an online music store until it was acquired by
Rhapsody from Best Buy [1] on 1 December 2011.
Later companies and projects successfully followed its P2P
filesharing example such as Gnutella, Freenet and many others. Some services,
like Grokster, Madster and the original eDonkey network, were brought down or
changed due to similar circumstances. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napster
If you spend much time online, then you have most likely
heard of Napster. What began in 1999 as an idea in the head of a teenager
proceeded to redefine the Internet, the music industry and the way we all think
about intellectual property. Napster is now back in business as a legal,
pay-per-song music-download site; but it once was a controversial service that
spurred what is still one of the greatest Internet-related debates: Just
because we can get the music we want without paying for it, should we?
In this article, you will learn what the original Napster
was, what it did and how it worked. You will also learn why there is so much
concern, particularly in the music industry, about the issues of copyright and
intellectual property http://computer.howstuffworks.com/napster.htm
Napster (Napster was Fanning's nickname in high school,
because of his hair) is a different way to distribute MP3 files. Instead of
storing the songs on a central computer, the songs live on users' machines.
This is called peer-to-peer sharing, or P2P. When you want to download a song
using Napster, you are downloading it from another person's machine, and that
person could be your next-door neighbor or someone halfway around the world.
(See How Gnutella Works to learn more.)
Let's take
a look at what was necessary for you to download a song that you are interested
in using the old Napster.com:
You needed:
A copy of
the Napster utility installed on your computer
A directory
on your computer that has been shared so that remote users can access it
Some type
of Internet connection
The
provider of the song needed:
A copy of
the Napster utility installed on his computer
A directory
on his computer that has been shared so that someone else could access it
Some type
of Internet connection that was "on"
A copy of
the song in the designated, shared directory
Here is
what happened when you decided to look for the song:
You opened
the Napster utility.
Napster
checked for an Internet connection.
If it found
a connection, Napster logged you onto the central server. The main purpose of
this central server was to keep an index of all the Napster users currently
online and connect them to each other. It did not contain any of the MP3 files.
You typed
in the title or artist of the song you were looking for.
The Napster
utility on your computer queried the index server for other Napster computers
online that had the song you requested.
Whenever a
match was found, the Napster server informed your computer where to find the
requested file.
When the
server replied, Napster built a list of these systems in the results window.
You clicked
on the file(s) that interested you and then chose Download.
Your copy
of Napster attempted to establish a connection with the system hosting the file
you selected.
If a
connection was successfully made, the file began downloading.
Once the
file was downloaded, the host computer broke the connection with your system.
You opened
up your MP3 player software and listened to the song.
itunes and
legal downloads
iTunes is a
media player and media library application developed by Apple Inc. It is used
to play, download, and organize digital audio and video on personal computers
running the OS X operating system and the iOS-based iPod, iPhone, and iPad
devices, with editions also released for Microsoft Windows.
Through the
iTunes Store, users can purchase and download music, music videos, television
shows, iPod games, audiobooks, podcasts, movies and movie rentals in some
countries, and ringtones, available on the iPhone and iPod Touch (fourth
generation onward). Application software for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch
can be downloaded from the App Store. iTunes has been criticized for not being
able to transfer music from one portable device to another.
iTunes 11
is the most recent version of iTunes, available for Mac OS X v10.6.8 or later,
as well as Windows XP or later. It was released on November 29, 2012, one month
later than expected, due to a delay by Apple saying that they needed extra time
to get it right.[4]
Cost: At the
time of this writing, individual songs costs 69¢, 99¢ and $1.29 while albums
mostly cost $9.99. TV shows in HD cost $2.99 but you can also purchase a whole
season of your favourite TV shows using the Season Pass. They also offer TV
show rentals for $0.99c per episode. http://musiced.about.com/od/buyingguide/p/itunes.htm
illegal downloads
Streaming
and downloading (or saving) media files may often involve use of
linking[disambiguation needed] and framing Internet material, but they raise
quite separate issues from linking and framing under copyright law. The reason
for the difference is that, unlike (or in addition to) mere linking and
framing, streaming and downloading often involve making infringing copies of
the works in question, or else the organizations running such Web sites may
become vicariously liable for infringement by actively inducing infringement by
others. Accordingly, some sites (such as TV Links) that have employed their own
interfaces to stream media content from illegal sources, and others that
provide a facility for saving (downloading) copyrighted content from legal
interfaces, have faced strong legal opposition.
The advent
of open hosting servers meant that people could upload files to a central
server, which would incur the bandwidth and hard disk space costs such files
generate with each download. As search engines came from the public need to
navigate the growing universe of web pages, highly dynamic link sites (i.e. web
catalogs) emerged to address the particular fact that while hosts may provide
files, hosts typically do not provide organized interfaces to their content.
Link sites simply provide an interface for organizing information (links) to
the media located at specific addressable locations on open hosting servers.
Hosts issue a contract to each of its users which states that they are
prohibited from using its service for distribution of copyrighted content. But
users are typically anonymous (though their identities are almost always
traceable), and the hosts can or will not take any action beyond responding to
takedown notices addressed to specific files.
The issue
is part of a larger issue related to the usage of the Internet to facilitate
copyright circumvention, often called "piracy". As overt static
hosting to unauthorized content (i.e. centralized networks) is often quickly
and uncontroversially rebuffed, legal issues have in recent years tended to deal
with the usage of dynamic web technologies (decentralized networks, trackerless
bittorrents) to circumvent the ability of copyright owners to directly engage
particular distributors and consumers. The issue of linking is simply an aspect
within the larger issue of web interfaces; such that explicitly provide links
to illegal content, and are organized, inventive, and dynamic in providing this
facility. The expression of such information (links) is typically regarded as
protected under free speech, even if this information is organized in accord
with trademarked and copyrighted titles. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_aspects_of_downloading_and_streaming
-lawsuits
On July 11,
2000 Lars Ulrich read testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee accusing
Napster of copyright infringement. In the testimony it is explained that in
2000, Metallica discovered that a demo of the song "I Disappear",
which was set to be released with the Mission: Impossible II soundtrack, was
being played on the radio. Metallica was able to trace the source of the leak
back to a file on Napster's peer-to-peer file-sharing network. It was also
discovered that the band's entire catalogue was available for free download.[5]
Metallica argued that Napster was enabling users to exchange copyrighted MP3
files.[6] Metallica sought a minimum of $10 million dollars in damages, at a
rate of $100,000 per song that was illegally downloaded.[7] Metallica hired
NetPD, an online consulting firm, to monitor the Napster service. NetPD
produced a list of 335,435 Napster users who were allegedly sharing the band's
songs online in violation of copyright laws. The 60,000 page list was delivered
to Napster's office.[8] Metallica demanded that all of their songs be banned
from file sharing, and that the users responsible for sharing their music also
be banned from the service. This led to over 300,000 users being banned from
Napster.[9] The suit also named several universities to be held accountable for
allowing students to illegally download music on their networks. These
universities included University of Southern California, Yale University, and
Indiana University.[10] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metallica_v._Napster,_Inc.
The
Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) oversees about 85% of real
music production with distribution and manufacturing in the United States. They
work to protect musicians while supporting the First Amendment rights. Their
stated goal is to support artists' creativity and help them not be cheated out
of money by illegal downloading.[5] The Recording Industry Association of
America launched its first lawsuits on 8 September 2003, against individuals
who illegally downloaded music files from the Kazaa FastTrack network. Two
years after it began, the campaign survived at least one major legal
challenge.[citation needed] The RIAA said it filed 750 suits in February
2006[6] against individuals downloading music files without paying for them in
hopes of putting an end to Internet music piracy. The RIAA hopes their campaign
will force people to respect the copyrights of music labels and eventually
minimize the number of illegal downloads.[7][8] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_download#RIAA_against_illegal_downloading
impacts on artists and record
labels
Financial Losses
The RIAA
reports that music sales in the United States have dropped 47 percent since
Napster first debuted in 1999. The availability of free music has cost the
music industry $12.5 billion in economic losses. To recoup some of these
losses, the music industry has filed lawsuits against individuals who have been
found to have illegally downloaded music. In some cases, individuals have been
sued for thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Layoffs
Singers and
bands are the public face of the music industry, but creating, recording and
promoting a song takes a large team of people. As record companies have seen
their profits decrease, they have cut positions they are no longer able to
afford. This includes artists as well as engineers, songwriters, producers,
technicians and marketing support. The RIAA reveals that more than 71,000 jobs
have been lost as a result of illegally downloading music.
Investment
in New Music
Declining
profits and fewer staff leave the music industry with less funds and
opportunities to recruit and develop new talent. Record labels are more
inclined to focus their money and time on established artists and only a few,
promising new artists. As a result, more new artists have to look for outlets
to create and promote their music on their own, such as selling it directly
online.
New
Marketing Strategies
The illegal
sharing of music has impacted the way the music industry markets and promotes
its artists. The introduction of Napster and illegal downloading helped usher
in a new era of digitally accessible music where singles trump a full-length
album. To expose its artists to a wider audience, the music industry has had to
develop and deploy new tactics like ringtones and digital licensing music to
sites like YouTube and Pandora. Touring and promotional deals are more
lucrative for the music industry than selling songs. http://smallbusiness.chron.com/illegally-downloading-music-impact-music-industry-27748.html
