Don't march for Napster

Don't get me wrong. I'm not opposed to peer-to-peer file sharing, and I'm no fan of the way record companies do business. I actually think that there is something fundamentally egalitarian in how the structure of the Net supports and facilitates interaction between millions of people. Cutting out the middleman is empowering, and, in theory, heck yeah, it should promote democracy. Peer-to-peer power to the people! Right on!

But Napster, the company, is not about promoting democracy. Napster is about making a buck, or, to be precise, a whole lot of bucks, by exploiting a new distribution paradigm. The company's use of '60s rhetoric -- such as its plan to hold a "teach-in" on April 2 to educate people on why it should be allowed to stay in operation -- in the service of its commercial interests is repugnant and crass. And our personal right to be able to get stuff for free online? Come on, people. We're not talking about stopping bombs falling in Vietnam, are we?

Pick a real cause -- pro-choice or pro-life, gun control or gun rights, global warming or world starvation -- and wear out some shoe leather. But can we please just say no to what appears to be an unfortunately healthy phenomenon: the rise of brain-dead attempts by corporations to make us feel like we should rally around their bottom line?

On April 3, Netizens can show their Internet appreciation by donating to an online charity, purchasing something online or investing in their favorite online business. Starting April 2, 2001, ICONOCAST and its partners will encourage consumers to send "Back the Net" online greeting cards through Excite@Home's BlueMountain.com to 10 friends, family members or business acquaintances.

Napster isn't the only corporation trying to pull a fast one on the Net masses. Due no doubt to some unholy juxtaposition of heavenly bodies, April 3 is also Back The Net day. At the behest of marketing maven Michael Tchong, all Net devotees are encouraged to buy something online on that day to show their support for the dream of e-commerce.

Originally dubbed "Take Back The Net" day (and undoubtedly changed once Tchong realized that drawing upon the symbolism of Take Back The Night -- a movement aimed at combating rape -- to promote online commerce might strike some people as a little, er, insensitive) Tchong's initiative might have been expected to sink without a trace immediately after launch. But that would require underestimating how brazen today's surviving dot-coms are in their increasingly futile search for a business model that doesn't require hourly infusions of venture capital. On March 27, Excite@Home, the Web portal/cable Net access company, announced that it too is supporting "Back The Net" day. "For every 'Back the Net' BlueMountain.com card sent," declared a press release, "Excite@Home will donate one dollar ($1), up to a maximum donation of $10,000, to a technology-focused charity. Card senders will also have the option of donating to a charity in the recipient's name."

Excite@Home is the owner of BlueMountain.com. So in effect, Excite@Home is attempting to boost BlueMountain's business under the cover of a campaign to get people to "show their support for the Internet."

Here's a news flash. The Internet doesn't need anyone's support. The Internet is doing quite fine, thank you. It's the companies struggling to cash in on the Internet that are having problems. Asking Net users to pay for their services as if by doing so they would be joining Amnesty International or pledging to end world hunger is the last bit of proof anyone needs to settle once for and all the question of why so many dot-coms are going bankrupt.

They're dumb. Too dumb to live.

In a world where teenagers get Nike Swoosh tattoos and the introduction of New Coke inspires a popular rebellion it would be injudicious to deny that people do indeed care deeply about corporate marketing campaigns and products. But what continues to confound Net watchers is how badly the dot-coms bungle the lessons of 21st century capitalism, given a chance. Napster is a golden example, but Excite@Home isn't too far behind. Send a greeting card to demonstrate your support for the Internet? March on Washington so that Napster can continue its leech-like ways?

Don't do it. Don't march and don't click. That way, the next time you log on, you'll still have your self-respect.

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