Music Industry to Napster Lovers: Just Say No

The music industry has a message for all the people out there who want their Napster fix: Just say no.

As part of a don't-do-that-pleasurable-thing effort reminiscent of Nancy Reagan's "Just Say No" antidrug campaign, the Recording Industry Association of America has launched an anti-Napster Web site called "Nofreelunchster.com."

On the site, which features a mock version of the Napster logo's cat gorging on a sandwich and soda, consumers can read a press release discussing the establishment of the site, peruse a court filing that's part of the Napster copyright litigation, listen to an MP3 file of RIAA President Hilary Rosen speaking out against the file-sharing service, or sign up for email newsletters from the RIAA.

Making fun of the Napster cat and parodying Napster's name don't appear as if they'll be particularly effective at breaking the habits of the tens of millions of people who have downloaded music for free off the Internet through various online services. More likely, the effort signals just one step in a long, slow tug-of-war between artists and media companies on one side and consumers looking for free entertainment on the other.

And this tug-of-war is by no means limited to music or the Internet. At the Salomon Smith Barney/Broadcasting & Cable Magazine Big Picture Conference on Tuesday, News Corp. (NWS Quote) President and COO Peter Chernin made a reference to an attempt to make "copy protection" -- that is, limitations on copies -- available to broadcasters. If not, he said, it may be an "impediment" to future services.

Hey guys, hear that? Just say no to home recording.