First, it's not illegal. It's in violation of copyright, which is a civil matter, not criminal.

I can see that. I wasn't making the proper distinction between civil and criminal. It still isn't right to violate a copyright, which was my point.

Second, I don't see how Napster is (legally) in the wrong at all.

I was a little ambiguous here, but I wasn't meaning to say that Napster was illegal; I meant that using it was. A duel deck VCR is not illegal, but copying copyrighted VHS tapes is.

Anyway, for me the concern is more the morality then the actual law. There’s no way they can crack down of everyone downloading. And morally I think that taking something that you didn’t pay for is wrong. However, as I mentioned, I think that using something for a trial period is a good thing and only benefits all parties (including the RIAA, because there are things I won’t buy without trying them out first).