Today was a good day for Napster.com.
Two federal appeals judges granted a stay from an injunction that would have pulled Napster's plug by midnight Pacific time tonight and nearly 70,000 free music users signed an electronic petition vowing to boycott the Recording Industry Association of America.
The next shut down deadline is unknown.
U.S. District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel on Wednesday had sided with the RIAA in granting the injunction and basically accused the song-swapping service of mass copyright infringement.
Millions of Napster users were mobilized this morning to voice their concerns by e-mailing recording industry executives. Several RIAA e-mail addresses were posted on Napster, as was a request for users to participate in a weekend “buycott,” by purchasing CDs from artists who support the one-to-one online sharing of digital music files.
Other song-swapping services like Scour.net, which is enduring its own legal battle, and Gnutella.com crashed from the traffic created by panicking mp3 users in search of free music files.
Word of one Web site, www.proboards.com/napster, spread quickly through the Internet, as nearly 70,000 Napster supporters had logged on to voice their support and mobilize against RIAA by vowing to boycott major label music until Napster's fate was safe. The entire list of Napster supporters who signed
the electronic petition will by sent to the RIAA.
“We can, and will, win in the end,” the pro-Napster site reported.
