SAN FRANCISCO, July 26 (AFP) - Napster must stop providing a way for people to swap copyrighted music, a US District Judge said here Wednesday.

Judge Marilyn Hall Patel, rendering her decision to an overflowing courtroom, charged that Napster should be held vicariously liable for piracy of copyrighted music by users. Lawyers representing the US Music Recording Industry and Napster had argued for more than two hours, as Patel announced

her decision was based on the likelihood of record companies and musicians represented in the lawsuit winning their case.

She said Napster is responsible for supervising and policing its site. Patel also said it was obvious from the evidence presented in the case that Napster operators not only knew about copyrighted music being wrongfully duplicated but that the site had been designed intentionally for that purpose. "The court rejects the argument that this will put Napster out of business," Patel said.

Her comment was in response to arguments by Napster attorneys that people use Napster to sample music for later purchase, and to promote new artists.

Russell Frackman, an RIA attorney said that 12 to 30 million songs are downloaded daily by users of Napster. In the estimated six months that this case will go to trial, three billion songs will be downloaded. "This is the most egregious case of copyrighting infringement that ever existed," he said.

The Recording Industry Association of America and major music labels brought suit against Napster in December of 1999 for copyright infringement, winning a preliminary round in May.

难点词汇：
　　 swap　交换　　　　　　overflow　溢出,充满　　　　　　vicariously　代理地
　　 likelihood　可能性　　egregious　过分的, 惊人的　　　infringement　违反, 侵害
　　 preliminary　预备的, 初步的