The music industry has accused Napster of running a music piracy operation because its web site allows users to trade music for free by converting the contents of compact discs into MP3 files which can be easily downloaded by others. Cary Sherman, an attorney for RIAA, commented that, “whether or not it’s lawful for users to share music one-on-one, it is entirely different for a commercial entity to create a business that induces users to do that”.
Napster claims that its activities are legitimate and has justified them on six grounds. These include the consumer's right to share music for non-commercial purposes, that Napster is not responsible for what its users do because it is only acting as an ISP, and that an injunction would harm Napster to a greater extent than it would benefit the trade groups.
An attorney acting on Napster’s behalf, David Boies, maintains that, “in addition to the ISP argument... it is clear that our users are not violating the copyright law under the American Home recording Act and we’re not guilty of contributory infringement”. He believes that “RIAA see Napster as a threat not because it’s going to reduce record sales but that it will reduce the RIAA’s control over record sales”.