Safety of using napster (or similar services)

Factual Questions
1

Alright, I admit I don’t know much about these computer things, but the other day, my cousin told me I could get MP3s in a much more reliable way from Napster.com. So I download the software and start grabbing MP3s.

Well my 56K modem is pretty damn slow, so I set up an MP3 to download when I went to bed, and when I got up the next morning 8 hours later, the modem was still on (which was weird in and of in itself since AOL logs you off if you don’t actively use it every 20 minutes or so). I noticed that two people had UPLOADED MP3s from my computer in the interim. And when I logged off, about 20 minutes later, the modem LOGGED ITSELF BACK ON automatically, which my wife thought was some other person on the Napster board somehow remotely trying to access our computer to get some of our other MP3s.

Well, I say share and share alike, so if they want my MP3s while I’m on-line…fine. But I really don’t like the idea that someone can get our computer (which we leave on) to log on whenever they want. And I guess I have to wonder whether they can gain access to other parts of our computer (i.e. personal finances) or leave us unwanted things (like viruses) without our having a way to intervene short of turning off the computer.

So what say you…teeming millions… to this issue?

2

According to the Napster FAQ:

I’m sure someone more knowledgable will provide a better answer. In the GD thread, Napster and the Future of the Recording Industry, StrTrkr777 mentions that someone has cracked the Napster code. Maybe he could provide a link to the magazine article.

“Penises don’t belong in the mouth, girls and boys. You’ve got the wrong hole there. Just like you wouldn’t shove pizza up your nose.”
-From the Brother Jed flyer-

3

If you are using Napster, you’re a thief, pure and simple. It’s no different from shoplifting a CD.

“What we have here is failure to communicate.” – Strother Martin, anticipating the Internet.

www.sff.net/people/rothman

4

RealityChuck, I’m not going to turn this into a debate, but you are wrong. Napster is simply a program designed to exchange mp3 files between other users, nothing more. Mp3 is a file compression format. So what is illegal about that?

“Penises don’t belong in the mouth, girls and boys. You’ve got the wrong hole there. Just like you wouldn’t shove pizza up your nose.”
-From the Brother Jed flyer-

5

Thanks, I must have missed that page about the security on Napster. Regarding RealityChuck’s comment, I also don’t want this to turn into a Great Debate, but I have to say that if I can get my wife to quit buying so many damn CDs via Napster, and save our collective bank account, than call me whatever you want, be it a thief or a pig-fucking liberterian.

6

If you use Napster and exit the program by clicking on the “X” in the top right corner, Napster is most likely still running in the background- you’ll see the Napster Icon in the system tray (typically bottom right corner, next to the time). Try using the File menu instead- You can simply go to File>Exit or simply File>Disconnect. No Napster users should have access to your MP3 directory after doing this.

No you’re not and yes it is. As I’m typing this I’m downloading a live Dave Matthews song not on any of his authorized albums. I already have all of his studio and authorized live albums (except Remember Two Things- blech). What is it that I’m stealing now? If you check my Napster profile, you’ll see that the only MP3s I have available are live songs not on any released album from bands that approve of taping and trading (or in some cases deceased artists). Sometimes I’ll check out songs in order to preview an album to see if its worth purchasing. Napster is a tool- If you want to make sweeping generalizations based on what some idiots use it for, fine. But do it in the pit.

7

My feelings about copyright infringement are well-known, at least to readers of the other Napster thread and the CSS thread from several weeks back.

That said, the above statement is wildly inaccurate. If I were a musician, for example, seeking to promote my music, Napster could be a godsend. It would allow me to publish my music directly to the people at virtually no cost to me.

There are plenty of ways in which Napster may be legally used.

Of course, if you use it to capture and play copyrighted music for which you hold no license… then you’re a thief.

  • Rick
8

RealityChuck sez:

Hey, thanks, I was just thinking “Some good moralizing would hit the spot right now.” If there’s anything we need more of it’s other people’s unsolicited opinions on our behaviour.

Yarster: Don’t worry about. Think of it like this: If someone wanted to get some mp3’s from your computer and your computer was disconnected from the internet how would they signal to your computer to connect to the internet in the first place.

Napster is pretty safe. If there are any security holes I haven’t heard of them yet.

9

Konrad,
Maybe you missed the part of my OP that freaked me out the most. That is, when I was DISCONNECTED from the Internet and had logged off AOL, the computer restarted the log in process ON IT’S OWN about 20 minutes later while I was watching TV in the other room. It’s true that the Napster icon was in the lower right hand corner system tray as Mojo suggested, and when I closed that, it didn’t log back on again (or at least not in the 40 minutes before I left for work…but it might be on right now).

I also keep reading things about how some magazine published the Napster code that a hacker broke so that a weasally hacker can use it to get other stuff off your computer beyond your MP3s. I assume they can also secretly place random viruses there as well, hence my concern. And if I have the added worry that they can somehow signal my modem via it’s dedicated phone line to log back in when I’m not home, who the hell knows what they could do without me knowing about it.

Maybe these sound like paranoid rants, but keep in mind that:

  1. I know two things about computer programming…jack and shit

  2. Up until this morning, I didn’t think the computer could sign on by itself without me initiating the process, and apparently I was wrong, which instantly makes me wonder what else I think I “know” about how things like Napster work that are also wrong.

10

I use Napster to play songs on my computer, that’s all. I don’t consider this stealing.

11

Bleh, Reality Chuck gives people opinions they really don’t want. Snore.

ROFL! I like that!

Well, some programs could contain back doors. There’s really no way for you to tell. And a lot of commercial programs have these backdoors.

RealPlayer for instance, and the rest of the Real line contain hidden code that tells Real who you are and when you’re using the software. One of their programs sends a list of all MP3s to their server. IMHO, a lot of their actions should be illegal but what can you do?

I’m fairly sure Napster doesn’t have these backdoors because it’s been analyzed to pieces and nobody has publicized it.

So, for what that’s worth, Napster is probably less of a risk than a lot of other programs.

On the topic of dialing in…

You say that your intervention is needed, but think about what you do, you merely click ‘dial’… The process is all software controlled. In fact, often opening net enabled software will do this for you, if you’ve got it set that way. This is because the software tries to connect to something, windows noticed it’s not dialed in, and the process starts.

The only way to control this is to buy an external modem (a good idea anyways, because 98% of internal modems are broken crap that use your CPU instead of including the needed chips… Winmodems they’re called.) or to unplug the phone line from the back of the modem.

But… You shouldn’t need to do this. What’s probably happening is that Napster does a periodic check to look for your requests or something, this makes Windows dial in, then when Napster is dialed in, other users notice you and start a download, so you stay connected.

The best way to control this is to close Napster, not just downsize it. To check you can hit ctrl-alt-delete and see if it’s still listed. If it is, select it and hit ‘end task’ which will kill it.

Anyways, a recap. Reality Chuck is a git. Yarster is funny. Napster is 99% likely to not have evil backdoors. Real Inc. sucks. Winmodems suck, most internal modems are winmodems. Napster can probably be safely controlled just by making sure it’s properly closed.

12

I don’t see what’s so different from it than listening to songs on the radio. I mean, I’m not paying for them while I listen and don’t feel guilty about it. Anything I load off of Napster is 99% of the time something I can’t find in a store (such as “The Vagina Song” by Weird Al Yankovic,) something out of print like the Travelling Willburys, or something I already own on CD, tape or vinyl but want grouped with other stuff on another CD or just want to listen to while I’m farting around online. It would be pretty inefficient to wait and swipe every song from an album so you could record it and feel like you’ve bought the real thing. Until you have a site where you can also load liner notes, you’re probably not going to put much of a dent in the CD industry.

“I don’t know…I don’t know.” – St. DooDah

13

… and Jack just left town.

14

there is a huge difference. the radio station pays the artist and their label money to play their song. you are paying nothing to listen to stuff from napster.

while reality chuck’s statement was a little too general (not everyone uses napster for the same thing), give me a break.

what is essential is invisible to the eye -the fox

15

I was under the impression that the radio station received the records for free from studios hoping and praying that they’d get airplay, and thus exposure for their clients. Is this only from the 1950’s or what? I mean at some point the labels were paying the RADIO STATION to have the records played. Anyway, my point is that I honestly can’t remember the last time I bought an album because of something I heard on the radio (in fact, the radio does more to make people sick of songs than make them want to buy, if you ask me), so you could just as easily say that the radio station is robbing artists of profits.

How about this scenario: Is buying a used CD at the record store stealing? No, because you’re exchanging cash for it. But does the artist see any of that? Hell no! So by not paying full price for a new record you’re robbing the artist of his cut. For shame! You could nit pick on this forever, but like I said, I’m mostly downloading stuff you can’t buy anymore or stuff I’ve already bought in another format. The only time I buy a new CD these days is to usually replace one I’ve lost or for a gift. There will always be people who abuse a system no matter what it is, but I’m guessing that people who are all high and mighty about something like this wouldn’t think twice about sneaking into a second movie at the multiplex, even that also is technically stealing.

Love stinks! (Yeah, yeah!)

16

Two points

  1. I remember reading about an artist who was angry about not getting any money from used CDs.

  2. Why do winmodems suck? What is the point of buying extra harware to demodulate a slow modem line if your pentium can do that without aditional hardware?

17

Pretty sure that was Garth Brooks.

18

I don’t let my kids do that. I didn’t do that. We don’t feed them Brachmann’s Candy from the immense Kiosk in the supermarket. Stealing is Stealing is Stealing. You want to paint “those people who are all hight and might” with a brush like that? What the fuck? Either you respect the very concept of intellectual as well as REAL property, or you do not. And what the hell makes you think that people who object to digital theft would sneak into a movie theatre?? I’d guess that for someone who takes that kind of law seriously, THEY ARE THE LAST ONES to sneak into a movie theatre.

Man O Manoschevitz !

Cartooniverse

If you want to kiss the sky, you’d better learn how to kneel.

19

The point is that using a winmodem slows down your computer. Why spend all that money to buy a 750MHz computer, when all you’re gonna do is use a winmodem that makes it run like a 200?

The trend now is to integrate and eliminate hardware. A bad thing, in my eyes. We take a modem, for example, and offload all the hardware that makes it a modem, and replace it with a program that robs your cpu of clock cycles. Why not do the same thing with sound cards, network cards, everything else? Because it would make your cpu so busy running your peripherals that your computer would be useless. Not to mention incompatible with any other OS besides windows.

wait a minute, did we just find the real reason why they make winmodems? Nah, Micro$oft wouldn’t stoop that low…commissioning custom hardware to lock people into using their software…

Oh, what’s that? So now you say life sucks?
Well 99% of it’s what you make of it…
So if your life sucks, YOU suck!

Joe_Cool

20

No I’m not saying that at all, I’m trying to say that sometimes people do things without thinking not realising it’s wrong that they may or may not do if they knew otherwise. And some people KNOW they’re doing something wrong and just don’t give a damn. Some people think it’s not wrong to sneak into a theater because “well I’ve already paid for one movie, and they’re playing it anyway, and it’s not like they’re sold out or anything, I’m not hurting anybody” etc, etc. There are varying degrees of ways you can use something like Napster from outright piracy to learning about new music you plan to buy anyway; some people are going to be cool about it and some are going to screw it up for he rest of us.

“Love Story? There’s two things wrong with that movie: No Smokey, and no Bandit!” – Eric Forman, That 70’s Show