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November 1, 1999, article on the website picked up on the piracy problem in a big way. “New music software that aims to make finding MP3 files easier may work a little too well,” the article began. It quoted such Napster fans as the head of ArtistDirect, a sales site for musicians like Tom Petty, and such critics as CEO Dave Goldberg of music site Launch Media Inc., who said Napster was “just a different way” of getting pirated music. It also cited copyright lawyers who said that Napster and its users could be in legal trouble. Even if Napster qualified under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act loophole for Internet service providers, it would have to take down infringing music as soon as it was notified, they said.

The article also featured John Fanning, who identified himself as one of two cofounders, along with his nephew. Fanning called Napster “a microcosm of what’s happening on the Net.” And Richardson laid out her claim that Napster wasn’t violating the law because it didn’t host the music. Indeed, she said, it was trying to encourage CD sales by exposing people to new songs. Napster “is much more about community. We’re not interested in people doing anything illegal,” Richardson said. Realizing the legal position was tenuous, she stretched the truth at least twice. First, she said, “We’re going to follow all the laws to the letter, including the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.” And second, she said the company was in talks with the RIAA. “We’re committed to working with them.”

As the number of Napster users neared a million, some journalists figured out that its office mate, Xtime, a normal start-up with legal technology, a conventional CEO, and a press person, would be a useful place to turn for access. They called Xtime spokesman Travis Murdock directly, or sought opportunities to meet people at both companies simultaneously. One such event was a joint Napster-Xtime marketing-and-recruiting party thrown at the Bubble Lounge, a swank San Francisco champagne bar nestled between the Transamerica Pyramid and the hipster hangouts of North Beach. Strange as it may seem years later, many people in those days saw parties as a perfectly legitimate means of conducting corporate business. For recruiting in conditions near full employment, it helped to show prospective workers that their future colleagues were fun. For public relations, it was an easy way to reach a lot of reporters with their guards down. And, of course, the people monitoring the companies’ spending weren’t exactly in a state of high alert: hence the rise of celebrity-emceed

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