Napster Rallies Supporters In Washington Before Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing On The Future Of Digital Music; B-roll Footage of Napster Supporters Available at 10:30 pm EDT

Business Wire, April 2, 2001

Entertainment Editors and Producers

WASHINGTON--(ENTERTAINMENT WIRE)--April 2, 2001

Tonight, Monday, April 2, 2001, Napster is holding an informational forum.

One day before a Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing, founder, Shawn Fanning, CEO, Hank Barry, and rapper Chuck D will rally and educate supporters on the issues that confront music file sharing. Napster, the largest music file sharing community on the internet, has been under the attack of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) which claims that the service hurts record sales and independent artists while, at the same time, violating copyright laws.

Napster alleges that the recording industry is an anti-competitive cartel that crushes its every attempt to reach a happy medium. CEO Hank Barry maintains that it has built a viable business model with secure technology and offered the record labels guaranteed revenue of $1 billion over the next five years, thus fulfilling all of its obligations to the artists and the industry.

A clean B-roll package including interviews with Napster founder, Shawn Fanning, CEO, Hank Barry, and rapper, Chuck D and footage from the informational forum will be available via satellite tonight at 10:30 pm EDT. Additionally, a B-roll package with footage from the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing will be available via satellite on Tuesday, April 3, 2001.

WHAT:    Napster Rallies Supporters in Washington, DC

WHEN:    10:30-10:45 pm EDT
         Monday, April 2, 2001
         2:45-3:15 pm EDT
         Tuesday, April 3, 2001

VIA SATELLITE:    SBS 6, Transponder 7
         Downlink Frequency: 11872 H
         Audio:  Standard 6.2/6.8

For technical questions, please contact QRS Newmedia at 202/797-9001.