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KaZaA, Grokster and Morpheus ... Oh My! - January 23, 2002

It has been said, “once a man’s mind is expanded by a new idea, it can never go back to its original size.” Unfortunately, this concept also seems to apply to my stomach. And even more unfortunate for the record companies, this principle definitely applies to online music sharing.

Despite the record industry’s legal devastation of Napster last summer, replacements have rushed to fill the void. In fact, in the last year, the music industry’s position has worsened. In a sense, the industry’s legal battle against Napster is much like the fabled Hercules’ battle against the Lernean Hydra.

As those of you who didn’t sleep through all of Greek mythology will remember, in one of his labors, the mighty Hercules faced the dreaded Hydra, a nine-headed serpent with poisonous venom. During the battle, each time Hercules removed one of the beasts’ heads, two heads would grow in its place. Before long, he found himself in a battle with a beast with as many venomous, snapping mouths as can be found at one of my wife’s family reunions. Of course, even the Hydra had the decency not to ask to borrow money from its “big-time attorney” in-law but I digress….

The record companies find themselves in a similar position. Just last year, they were in a battle with one relatively undercapitalized company. Now, they are contending with three services that are not only better financed but also more strangely named– KaZaA, Morpheus and Grokster.

Moreover, whereas Napster was a California-based company, the music industry is now fighting its foes all over the globe. For instance, KaZaA is a service based in the Netherlands.

Perhaps, recognizing the futility of its efforts, the industry is attempting to make peace with Napster. Recently, the record labels agreed to put their lawsuit against Napster on hold while the two sides attempt to negotiate a settlement. If the parties can reach an agreement, Napster will become a “legitimate” paid subscription service licensing music from the recording labels.

However, in my view, this strategy is not likely to be effective. After all, the industry already has its own music subscription services, MusicNet and Pressplay. But their subscriber bases pale in comparison to those of the free services. As my mother would often explain to my sister, “No guy is going to buy the cow unless you start cutting back on those damn Twinkies!”

Of course, music executives would argue that Napster’s superior brand name would allow it to gain greater market share. Unfortunately, these are many of the same people who argued that Mariah Carey should be given her own movie.

The truth of the matter is that people will continue to “share” music online so long as CD prices remain ridiculously high. Of course, as a libertarian, I am loath to establish the “proper” price for a CD. However, it seems ridiculous that the new Eminem CD retails for $20 when for half that price, you could purchase a full-length motion picture classic, such as Gone With the Wind, Citizen Kane or Porky’s 2 – Porky’s Revenge.

NOTE: For those of you educated in our public school system, a libertarian is NOT the person who shelves books and says, “Shhhh” at the “liberary.”

Ironically, the movie industry suffered from similar piracy after the introduction of the VCR. At the time, a VHS movie cost anywhere from $60 to $100. As a result, consumers went to great lengths to avoid paying these prices.

As pathetic as it may sound now, we would actually record movies from cable or even regular TV. In some cases, we would even carry a VCR over to a friend’s house to tape directly from his VCR.

Of course, it must be remembered that back then VCRs weighed anywhere from 40-600 pounds. Moreover, the connection of two VCRs required so many wires, cords and cables that you invariably lost one or more of your children in the tangle. Although I usually considered this an added bonus, my wife was never truly convinced that losing our two sons was worth a free copy of Flashdance. Of course, she never really had a full appreciation of Jennifer Beals’ “acting ability” either.

Interestingly, downloading music over the Internet is not much easier. Unless you have DSL or a direct connection through NASA, it could take up to one hour to download a single song – a very short song. In fact, in the fall of 2000, I made the mistake of trying to download Led Zeppelin’s Stairway to Heaven. My download is only 57% complete as of this writing.

Nevertheless, consumers will gladly tie up their computers for days at a time to avoid paying $20 to find out who “The Real Slim Shady” is. Therefore, despite the music industry’s legal efforts to protect its intellectual profits (oops, I mean “property”), consumers will continue to “share” music over the Internet until either CD prices decrease or those darn Led Zeppelin downloads finish.

If you enjoyed this article, then you will love Sean Carter's new book, If It Does Not Fit, Must You Acquit? -- Your Humorous Guide to the Law.  The book is not available in stores but may be purchased at Amazon.com or by clicking here.

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