Rage Against The Machine Rages Over Napster Ban

Rebel rockers Rage Against The Machine
have apologized to fans who were blocked from Napster for
downloading its brand-new "Renegades" album and, mirroring
the tone of their metal-hiphop style of protest music, promised to
put authority in its place.

Guitarist Tom Morello wrote in an apology to fans on the RATM
online bulletin board that the band was unaware of the ban until
fans began to complain. The group's "new management" told Sony
Music Corp., parent of Epic, RATM's label, to impose the ban,
he said.

"As soon as I was made aware of this horrible mistake on their
part," Morello wrote, "I immediately phoned our management and
the record company to see what we could do to get our Napster-using
fans reinstated as soon as possible."

Sony Music Corp. and the four other major recording companies
have sued Napster, alleging that the file-swapping service enables
copyright infringement by providing a way for Internet users to obtain
music without paying royalties. Napster has more than 40 million
users.

RATM, formed in 1991, lashes out against racism, censorship and
other social issues in combative, in-your-face lyrics.

Rage Against The Machine's Web site
is at http://www.ratm.com.