Napster Is Pushing Us Closer to Socialism

Napster is walking us blindly down the plank of socialism. Your article on the sharing of patterns by cross-stitchers [“Is a Stitch Online a Crime?” Aug. 1], combined with the Napster controversy, shows us the future we are moving toward.

Although these industries may have formed their strength by forcing us to buy a bundle of products when we were only interested in having a part of the bundle, the firms in these value chains will no longer find it profitable to create their patterns, music, etc.

The end result will be a bunch of enthusiasts, not entrepreneurs or businesspeople or capitalists, who will trade until there is nothing new to trade, and that will be the end of growth and innovation. We will all long for the days when we had to pay for an entire CD of 16 songs to get the one song we wanted.

KISA WEST

London