Out-Law News

German authorities want to stop Nazi music on Napster


The internal security agency of Germany has asked the media company Bertelsmann to help stop Napster being used for the exchange of pro-Nazi music in MP3 files. Bertelsmann recently entered into a deal with Napster which could settle legal disputes between the companies, subject to Napster members paying a subscription fee for continued services.

A spokesman for the security agency has said that the agency is concerned that anyone using Napster has access to “skinhead and Nazi music with its incitement to hatred and its appalling anti-Semitic content.” Such music would breach German laws on Nazi-related material.

Napster has in the past argued that it is powerless to prevent the trade in particular songs. It does not store the MP3 files which its users download; it only stores a directory of what its users say they are making available from their own hard disks.

Napster can close the accounts of members it finds trading particular files, but it is not difficult for these members to re-register under a different username. There is also the problem that Napster users can deliberately label MP3 files with incorrect artist and title details.

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