Band rages against Napster ban of fans
Another group of music fans is banned from the music-swapping service for trading copyrighted music--but this time, the band involved appears to be as angry as the fans.
Fans of rock band Rage Against The Machine began reporting that they were banned from Napster early Thursday morning. As was the case with people trading Metallica and Dr. Dre songs, Napster members were blocked from logging on and sent instead to a Web page saying they had been identified as probable copyright infringers.
But this time, the band apparently was just as surprised by the action as its fans. After a day of complaints on the band's Web page, a band member surfaced with an apology.
Since that case was filed, however, media giant Bertelsmann, which owns record label BMG Entertainment, has broken ranks to invest in Napster. BMG remains a party to the lawsuit but will withdraw once the two companies are able to create a legal, subscription-based service.
The Rage Against The Machine block came as a particular surprise to many fans, as the band has long been an outspoken opponent of corporate America and even defended Napster in an earlier interview.
In his apology message, Morello said he had contacted his management and record label to try to reinstate the blocked Napster accounts.
"Per my instructions, no further notices will be sent out, and again, I apologize for this undermining of your right to hear our music," Morello wrote. "In the future we will be more vigilant about this matter."
Sony and band management company QPrime could not be reached for comment. A Napster representative said that as of late Thursday afternoon, neither party had contacted Napster and that the ban remained in effect.
Napster declined to comment on how many people had been affected or on precisely when the ban had gone into effect.