Several people have said things like:

"...many people I know use Napster to sample music before they buy that artist's CD. Sometimes, someone finds an artist's song that they enjoy from Napster and end up buying a CD that they would not have bought before."

That argument is idiotic*.

If you have Napster, you have internet access. If you have internet access, you have the ability to visit cdnow.com. If you can visit cdnow.com, you can listen to 30 second bits of about half the songs on almost every album. If you can sample the music, you can decide if you want to get the album.

CDNow's sampling? Legal. Fast. Allows people to sample music and buy it.

If you have Napster, you probably have dozens of CDs worth of music without paying for them. I'm certain there are people who would like to get Moby's Play album, but have downloaded all the MP3s already so they don't feel like sending money off for music they already have.

If all of your friends who say they only use Napster to sample a new artist's music had portable MP3 players, not a single one would actually go out and purchase the CD.

* By the way, I'm not attacking the people who posted these comments. I'm attacking the argument.

-Faux "I wonder how many songs these friends deleted off their computers once they decided they weren't going to buy the album." Pas