News Digest
Page 2 Daily Nebraskan Tuesday, February 13,2001
Napster's trading days may be numbered
■ The Internet music-swapping
company has vowed to fight the federal
court's copyright infringement ruling.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SAN FRANCISCO—Napster Inc’s free
Internet file-swapping experiment was
imperiled Monday by a federal court’s deci
sion that the company must halt what mil
lions have come to enjoy: the unrestricted
sharing of copyrighted recordings.
Though Napster vowed to fight the rul
ing by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals -
and its latest bankroller Bertelsmann AG
vowed continued support - the free-for-all
ofmusic sharing via the Redwood City com
pany may only last afew more weeks.
Favoring die music industry, the three
judge panel found that "Napster has knowl
edge, both actual and constructive, of direct
infringement” of copyrights.
The industry said nearly 90 percent of
the music traded using Napster's servers as a
clearinghouse was pirated
The panel sent the case back to U.S.
District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel, asking her
to fine-tune her July injunction ordering
Napster to shut down.
The panel said the recording industry
“would likely prevail” in the suit, a landmark
in the dawning, uncertain age of digital
entertainment distribution.
“It’s time for Napster to stand down and
build their business the old-fashioned way,”
Hilary Rosen, president and chief executive
of the Recording Industry Association of
America, said during a press conference
later in Washington. "They must get permis
sion first”
Napster CEO Hank Barry said the com
pany would appeal to a larger panel of the
Ninth Circuit and called on Napster users to
lobby Congress.
In a 58-page opinion, the appeals court
judges directed die company to cut off users
who trade copyrighted songs in the MP3 for
mat that Napster has helped make the de
facto standard for digital music
Napster has argued it is not to blame for
its subscribers’ use of copyrighted material,
citing the Sony Betamax decision of1984, in
which the U.S. Supreme Court refused to
hold VCR manufacturers and videotape
retailers liable for people copying movies.
But the appeals court said no such pro
tection extended to Napster because the
company clearly knew its users were swap
ping copyrighted songs.
The appeals panel said Napster may be
liable if it does not actively prohibit its users
from swapping protected material.
Rather than placing the entire burden
on Napster, however, the court said the
recording industry must warn Napster that
copyrighted work was on the service before
the company was found liable
The judges did not specify what kind of
sanctions Napster might face.
Copyright attorney Larry Iser said the
order means the industry must provide a
detailed accounting of what titles it wants
Napster to remove from its search index, a
move that is likely to doom Napster. Napster
attorney David Boies, in an earlier filing with
jusan surnvan/newsmakers
Napster founder Shawn Fanning, right, attends a press conference Monday held at the Hyatt Hotel in San
Francisco as Napster attorney Jonathan Schiller stands behind him. The 9th Ui. Grcuit Court of Appeals
ruled that Napster must stop trading copyrighted material, which could dose Napstert service.
die appeals court, said it was technological- sands of Napster users were still trading
ly impossible for the company to abide by music files on just one of the company's
such an order, however. more than 100 servers.
Napster can stay in business until Patel The five largest record labels - Sony,
retools her injunction. No hearing date has Warner, BMG, EMI and Universal - sued as
been set soon as Napster took off, saying it could rob
Even after the panel’s decision, thou- them of billions of dollars in profits.
Bush: Military
funds should
get increase
THE ASSOdATH) PRESS
FORT STEWART, Ga. — President Bush, in his
first trip with all the trappings of commander in chief,
toki U.S. soldiers Monday that “America is not serving
you well* and promised morale-boosting pay
increases, better housing and health care.
"I'm proud to lead you,” Bush told hundreds of
soldiers and their families. “And I'm committed to
save you.”
It was a day filled with firsts for the newpiesident
his first major trip as president, his first flight aboard
the Boeing 747 Air Force One and the first official
playing of “Hail to die Chief.* It was the first of four
presidential trips this week designed to promote
Bush's national security policies.
Bush reviewed the troops with Defense Secretary
Donald Rumsfeld - the president's steps keeping time
with a military hymn, battle flags dipping as he
passed each unit
The president later visited cramped quarters and
ate lunch with the troops. He announced a $310 bil
lion proposed Pentagon budget for 2002, up $14 bil
lion from the current figure.
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said $5.7
billion of the new money will improve the quality of
life for troops; the rest will help other projects keep
pace with inflation.
Going to the troops:
■ Pay increases, with $1.4 billion given to the
Pentagon to decide how to divide it The increases
would come atop the 4.6 percent across-the-board
pay hike in the current budget
■ Health benefits, with $3.9 billion set aside to
eliminate most deductions and fund a mail-in phar
macy.
■ $400 million to improve military housing.
I_ |
PaffrNebraskan
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Copy Dosk Chief: Danell McCoy
Copy Desk Chief. Jeff Bloom
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Art Director Delan Lonowski
Photo Chief Scott McClurg
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General Manager Daniel Shattil
Publications Board Russell Willbanks
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(402)473-7248
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Terrorism Act raises protests
■The possible targets of the British
legislation argue that it might not be
limited to international violence.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LONDON—Anti-terrorist legisla
tion that comes into force next week in
Britain is hailed by the government as
a powerful weapon against interna
tional violence. But opponents say the
law will stifle dissent, whether on the
Internet or in slogans on a T-shirt
The Terrorism Act empowers
Britain to outlaw groups that commit
violence abroad and to crack down on
supporters who channel funds and
recruits to terrorist organizations.
Potential targets are already react
ing sharply.
“It’s goodbye to the peace talks" if
Britain bans the Tamil Tigers, London
based spokesman Anton Balasingham
was quoted as saying in a Tamil-lan
guage newspaper published in Sri
Lanka.
Closer to home, an animal rights
activist complained that activists who
release beagles raised for experiments
will have fewer rights than murderers.
Governments have pressed the
British to outlaw such organizations
as the Tamil Tigers, Hamas and the
Kurdistan Workers' Party.
The Home Office won’t say which
groups will be banned.
It plans to issue a list after the
Terrorism Act takes effect Feb. 19.
Existing counter-terrorist legisla
tion applies to Northern Ireland -
largely rushed into effect in 1974 after
Irish Republican Army pub bombs
killed 19 people in Birmingham.
Unlike the United States, Britain
does not maintain a list of foreign
organizations banned from operating
on its soil.
“London has, let's face it, been a
base for groups exploiting the free
doms of this country,” said Paul
Wilkinson, director of the Center for
the Study of Terrorism and Political
Violence at St Andrew's University.
Under the new law, Neil Durkin of
Amnesty International said, “the
British government may come under
intense pressure to ‘silence’ dissidents
based in the U.K.”
Sri Lanka has called on Britain to
outlaw the Tamil Tigers. Egypt has
asked it to ban the Islamic Group,
responsible for the 1997 attack in
Luxor that killed 58 foreign tourists.
Sheik Omar Bakri Mohammed,
London-based leader of the militant
Al-Muhajiroun, said the legislation
would poison the relationship
between British Muslims and the gov
ernment
“I will support the new law if it is
really against terrorist activity,” Bakri
Mohammed said. His group encour
ages young Muslim men to join armed
struggles abroad. “But why is raising
funds for Israel legal and raising funds
for Muslims in Kashmir or Palestine
illegal? The people who are going to be
affected, besides the Irish, are the
Muslims.”
Amnesty International said the
law, which passed with all-party sup
port, cast too wide a net It broadened
the definition of terrorism to include
religious or ideologically motivated
violence and acts, such as disruption
of power or computer systems.
It also forbids fund-raising for a
7 will support the new law
if it is really against
terrorist activity.”
Sheik Omar Bakri Mohammed
London-based leader of Al-Muhajiroun
banned group, possessing informa
tion “which is likely to be useful to ter
rorists,” posting weapons-making
instructions on the Internet, wearing a
T-shirt promoting a banned group or
speaking at a terrorist meeting.
A suspected terrorist may be
arrested without a warrant and
detained for up to a week without
charge.
Amnesty International said the law
may contravene the European
Convention on Human Rights.
The definition of terrorism was
“vaguely worded and could be extend
ed to include supporters of, for exam
ple, animal liberation or anti-nuclear
campaigns and others,” Amnesty said.
Animal liberation militants - some
of whom have resorted to bombing -
fear the government will use the new
law to crack down on their protests.
Home Secretary Jack Straw,
Britain’s top law-enforcement official,
has called protesters who attack staff
at animal research laboratories
“frankly evil.”
“The government is taking on
American hysteria because it’s taking
on the American definition of terror
ism,” said Animal Liberation Front
representative Robin Webb. “It’s a
sledgehammer to crack the proverbial
nut”
Report claims China torture common
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BEIJING—To force a young woman
to admit to prostitution, Chinese police
officers stuffed a sock in her mouth and
sexually assaulted her. In an east China
labor camp, a prisoner died after beat
ings ordered by a guard.
These cases were among dozens
Amnesty International cited in a report
Monday that said torture and ill-treat
ment of prisoners and detainees "is
widespread and systemic” in China. The
London-based rights group said die gov
ernment was not doing enough to com
bat die problem.
Those perpetrating abuses include
not only police and prison officers, but
also those outside the criminal justice
system: business security guards who
tortured and killed complaining cus
tomers, tax collectors, family planners,
Weather
TODAY
Foggy
high 36, low 21
TOMORROW
Snow showers
high 25, low 27
neighborhood watch groups and even
park attendants who beat a man with an
electric baton for walking on the grass,
Amnesty said.
In southern China, birth control offi
cials tortured 30-year-old farmer Zhou
Jianxiong to death in 1998, beating and
burning him and ripping off his genitals,
to extract the whereabouts of his wife,
whom they suspected of having an
unauthorized pregnancy, Amnesty said
China’s government said it opposed
torture and was working to curb it.
China’s state-run media has, in recent
years, been allowed a somewhat freer
hand to report on police and official
abuses of people not accused of political
crimes, helping in some cases to bring
perpetrators to justice.
The labor camp official in east China
who ordered colleagues to beat Chen
Chungui to punish hds escape attempt
was sentenced to 10 years in jail in 1998
for causing his death, Amnesty cited a
newspaper as saying.
But it said Chinese laws against tor
ture contain loopholes, abuses were
rarely punished and torture to extract
confessions “remains commonplace.’’
State media also almost never
reports allegations of abuse in political
cases.
“Torture in China remains a major
human rights concern. The range of offi
cials resorting to it is expanding as is the
circle of victims,” Amnesty said ii i a sepa
rate statement. “The government has
acknowledged for many years that tor
ture is a serious problem but has done
little about it"
Amnesty published the report less
than two weeks before International
Olympic Committee inspectors were to
visit Beijing to assess its bid for the 2008
Olympic Games. Concerns over rights
abuses contributed to Beijing’s narrow
loss in 1993 to Sydney for the 2000
Games.
The banned Falun Gong spiritual
movement said its followers have been
widely targeted for abuse and torture in
the government’s relentless 18-month
crackdown on the group. Falun Gong
said 143 practitioners have died.
A Hong Kong-based rights group
said it has tallied at least 112 deaths.
Amnesty said the government's denials
that followers have been abused are.
unconvincing.
There are few signs that allegations
of wrongdoing have been thoroughly
investigated, the groups said, which
“may be interpreted as official acquies
cence in torture and ill-treatment when
it is undertaken during national priority
campaigns.”
Widespread allegations of torture
have also been reported in China’s efforts
to suppress separatist activity in Tibet
and Xinjiang, regions with ethnic
minorities that chafe under Chinese
rule.
Amnesty said Zulikar Memet, an eth
nic Uighur in Xinjiang tried on sepa
ratism charges, was executed last June
even after he showed the court missing
fingernails extracted by torturers who he
said forced his confession.
.World/Nation
The Associated Press
■ California
Federal appeals court denies
Unabomber chance at trial
SAN FRANCISCO—A federal
appeals court denied Una
bomber Theodore Kaczynski’s
bid for a trial Monday, saying he
was not coerced into pleading
guilty to three fatal bombings.
Kaczynski, who entered his
plea in January 1998 for a man
bombing spree that killed three
people and injured 23, had told
the 91*1 U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals he felt pressured to plead
guilty as a way to avoid being por
trayed as mentally ill by his
defense attorneys.
Kaczynski had claimed a fed
eral judge violated his rights by
allowing his lawyers to use his
mental condition as a defense
and denying his request to repre
sent himself
Kaczynski had wanted a trial
even if it meant getting the death
penalty, but was given a life sen
tence in exchange for his plea.
■ New York
Ginton drops office deal, opts
for cheaper space in Hariem
NEW YORK—After drawing
fire for plans to spend $800,000 a
year to lease office space in mid
town Manhattan, former
President Clinton has abandoned
the deal and is considering
cheaper office space in Hariem, a
spokeswoman said Monday.
HHe wanted to go to a place
where he could be a good neigh
bor and be welcomed by the
neighborhood as well,” Julia
Payne, a spokeswoman for
Clinton’s Washington transition
office, said Monday.
Payne said Clinton was look
ing at about 8,000 square feet on
West 125th Street, the main thor
oughfare of the neighborhood in
upper Manhattan. Neither
Clinton's office nor the building
owner would comment on what
the space might cost the former
president
A proposed deal for office
space on West 57th Street in
Carnegie Towers, which would
have cost about $800,000, drew
fire for its high cost
Like other ex-presidents,
Clinton’s post-White House office
is paid for by taxpayers. Last week,
Clinton volunteered that his phil
anthropic foundation would
cover $300,000 of the rent
■ West Bank
Palestinian gunmen threaten
more violence after shootings
DHEISHEH REFUGEE
CAMP, West Bank—Palestinian
gunmen on Monday threatened
to stepup violence to wreck Israeli
Prime Minister-elect Ariel
Sharon’s promises of security.
Israeli soldiers killed two
Palestinians in what witnesses
called unprovoked shootings.
In the Gaza Strip, Palestinians
and Israeli troops fought a gun
battle that wounded eight
Palestinians and left dozens of
others overcome by smoke
bombs used by Israeli soldiers.
Sharon has not yet taken
office - he is still trying to form a
coalition - but his advisers
warned that once he was in
power, Israel would retaliate more
harshly than it has under his
predecessor, Ehud Barak.
Coalition negotiations
between Sharon’s Likud faction
and Barak’s Labor Party resumed
Monday. The two sides agreed a
joint government would only seek
an interim accord, not a final
peace deal.
■ New York
Prince, New Power Generation
to find new home on Internet
NEWYORK—Prince is offer
ing fans access to his creative
world-for a price.
This week, the rock star is
launching a new Web site,
www.NPGMusicaub.com.
Visitors can register to join the
club, which will offer new music
each month from his group, the
New Power Generation, plus
other perks. Those interested will
have to pay $7.77 a month.
Fans willing to shell out$100a
year can get VIP access to after
concert parties, a special edition
of the album “Rave Un2 the Joy
Fantastic” and more music.
It’s about the only way to get
new Prince music these days. The
reclusive singer has no record
contract