Napster's survival depends on its credibility October 04, 2000 12:00 AM PT by Larry Magid Usually, I'm pretty good about making up my mind on issues, but when it comes to Napster, I find myself on the fence. My heart says "Go Napster" and "Stick it to those greedy record companies." Hey, this is "power to the people." My old buddy Yippee leader Abbie Hoffman, author of "Steal This Book" and the subject of the recent "Steal This …showed first 75 words of 916 total…

…showed last 75 words of 916 total… persuaded that it's better to try to co-opt Napster's popularity by offering the company a deal. The industry could turn Napster founder Sean Fanning into a poster child and take advantage of Hank Barry's business acumen and status within Silicon Valley and the venture community. It would hardly be the first time that the industry turned "bad boys" into successful business partners and it could go along way toward improving the record companies' images.