Rage Against the Machine |
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Mon. December 11.2000 4:55 PM EST |
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Rage Helping Fans Regain Napster AccessBand posts unauthorized software fix online to aid those kicked off program for sharing Renegades. by Brian Hiatt |
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"We hope that Napster [restores] these people as soon as is humanly possible," Rage guitarist Tom Morello said in an online statement. (Frank Micelotta/ImageDirect) |
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Rage Against the Machine are taking appropriately revolutionary action to aid fans who were booted from Napster last week for sharing tracks by the band. In an unprecedented move, the band is helping fans regain access to the file-trading
They've also asked their label, Sony Music — which is in the midst of suing Napster for copyright infringement — to help fans get back onto the service. "Sony is still working on getting all of the Rage fans who were erroneously kicked off of Napster reinstated, and we hope that Napster [restores] these people as soon as is humanly possible," Rage guitarist Tom Morello wrote on Saturday in a statement on the band's Web site, www.ratm.com. A spokesperson for Rage's management company, Q Prime, confirmed that the statement is authentic, and said the company stands behind Morello's statement. A Sony Music spokesperson did not return a call for comment on Morello's statement by press time. Napster banned numerous users with copies of Rage's new album, Renegades, on their hard drives last week at the behest of the band's management and its label. But Morello said last week that the bans were a "horrible mistake," and that Q Prime failed to consult the band before taking action. Napster is legally obligated by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to permanently remove users who are singled out by copyright holders for sharing unauthorized material on their hard drives with others. That was the fate of thousands of Napster users cited earlier this year by Dr. Dre and Metallica, prompting anger from some of their fans. Those bans prompted inventive fans to find technological means to avoid the ban, including the software fix posted by Rage, known as "de-ban.reg." Napster has banned messages that link to, or even mention, such fixes from the message boards of its Web site. A Napster spokesperson at the band's publicity firm, Girlie Action, did not respond to a request for comment on Rage's actions by press time. Morello also said that fans who officially apply for reinstatement to Napster will be allowed back on by the band and its label. The guitarist continued to express regret on Saturday for the Napster ban, which had initially prompted some fans to label the political rockers as hypocrites. "Again, I apologize for all this trouble, and thank you for your patience and understanding," Morello wrote on the Rage Web site. "We're trying to get this situation resolved as quickly as we can." Renegades, released last week, features Rage's interpretations of songs by Minor Threat, the MC5, the Stooges, EPMD, Devo and others. |
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