NAPSTER GOES ON TRIAL

3/28/00 - The RIAA vs. Napster hearing kicked off yesterday with a few exciting moments, but little indication of where the trial might be headed. SF Gate.com reports that the RIAA requested Judge Marilyn Hall Patel speed up the process for getting documentation from Napster that would support an injunction request. Patel gave no ruling but did grill both plaintiff and defendant. After asking the RIAA whether its case was similar to the motion picture industry's ill-fought battle against VCR technology, she turned her attention to Napster attorneys, who claimed the technology was helping new artists get exposure. "I didn't see much of anything that didn't seem recognizable," Patel said. "These are not new artists." Seems like it will be an interesting couple of months. To read the full story click here Petition count: 15,122