Murdoch and Napster - when worlds collide

Do you remember the heyday of Napster? Did you use it? If so, do you consider yourself amoral? Well, some very powerful people think you are.

News Corp president Peter Chernin has come out with some inflammatory phrases. He's called the internet a "moral-free zone", said "broadband has so far benefited nobody as clearly as it's benefited downloaders of pornography and pirates of digital content" and concluded "that anyone unwilling to condemn outright theft by digital means is either amoral or wholly self-serving".

Strong words, strongly spoken.

We understand why he's saying these things. His employer produces and holds the rights to a vast amount of content. The back catalogue of Twentieth Century Fox films may never be digitised, Chernin warns, because of the risk of illegal copying.

What does he think of people who 'chip' DVD players? We're not even going to ask.

News Corp and the other media giants of this world are fighting their corner but it sounds as if consumers should soon be made to take some kind of anti-copying digital oath.

In this year's annual Agenda Setters snapshot of powerful individuals in high-tech (http://www.silicon.com/as2002 ) the heads of media empires were placed at the top of our list - check out a certain Mr Murdoch at number one. That was probably more to do with the power they wield than whether they get the digital age.

Most consumers are happy to pay for content but, as in any legal market that works, suppliers must satisfy demand. So far the owners of music and film have been woefully slow to satisfy anyone but headline writers.

How amoral a statement is that?