Cleaning up my mail folders the other day, I ran across a letter I'd sent to my legislators over the Napster case, back when the outcome was still in doubt. I am, of course, pleased that my prediction that the demise of Napster would not only be insignificant in the larger course of file swapping things, but also exacerbate the problem that the record companies face by forcing the file swappers to move to unpoliceable peer-to-peer networks, turned out to be true. :-)

Here's the letter. (Think I'm gonna send it again to their offices, and see what they have to say now. ;-)

It was addressed to:

Senator Phil Gramm Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison

As an addendum, Gramm never answered, and I got a canned reply emphasizing support for copyright holders from Hutchinson.

I am a registered voter in Harris County.

I would appreciate your support in an effort to keep the Napster file-sharing system up and operational.

Contrary to record company spin, this is not about copyright infringement, but about maintaining control over the production and distribution of music and artists, to keep an antiquated business model afloat.

Even if the record company spin were true, shutting Napster down will not solve their problems. Other file-sharing technologies are available, some of them on servers outside US jurisdiction, and some on distributed systems that use no servers at all.

It would be, in any practical way, impossible to stop this technology short of measures so draconian as to be tantamount to shutting the internet down.

The tremendous growth of the internet has been due, in a large part, to the lack of interference by government entities. As one British member of the Parliment remarked to his peers, during the debates on how to handle the rebellious thirteen colonies, "They grew by your neglect of them." So it is with the internet.

This laissez-faire approach should continue. It is in the best tradition of the Republican Party, and republican government, to do so.

Should you or your office need any further information on this issue, I will be happy to forward it, or confer by telephone to answer any questions you might have. I have experience in both the music industry, and in computer technology.

Thank you.