Their newest music is only available through scattered fan-run Internet sites. A lip-synching fan playing air guitar made their latest "music video." They've got a fourth album ready and no record company to release it.

This isn't some local garage band. This is Weezer -- the multi-platinum, nationally touring rock band. In February, their record label Interscope forced the band to remove the CD-quality mixes of their unreleased CD, Maladriot, from their official Web site. Interscope's intervention has sparked a new discussion on an old topic: the ethics of trading music online.

Many music fans assumed this debate was settled with the gutting of Napster a few years ago. However, the old problem has resurfaced with a new twist -- the band, not the fans, are the ones putting the music online. As record companies fear and penniless college students hope, the movement of music online may be unstoppable.

"Any band out there, besides Metallica and Creed, is going to benefit from online trading," said Jason Shank (senior-biological and evolutionary psychology). "They may not buy every CD, but they'll come to concerts and that's how artist make their money. It's the record companies that lose money."

Critics of online trading see the potential loss of record sales and eventual loss of revenue for the record companies as a flaw.

"I think that music should be free and stuff, but the fact of it is, it's not," said Jonathan Stewart (sophomore-accounting). "I'm a business major, so I see the whole greedy side of it, too."

Trading without the approval of the record labels also raises questions of ethics.

"They own the rights to the music. If you're taking it without their permission, it's wrong," said Stewart.

Though for the signed and successful, the practice of putting music online is largely unprecedented, it is nothing new for small or independent bands. With the movement of music online, fans can now download the songs they hear live, before deciding to buy a CD. This helps new bands win fans, some argue.

Audiogalaxy, one the most downloaded peer-to-peer sharing programs according to Download.com, is a utopian forum for these start-up bands. As other sharing programs like Morpheus and KaZaA do, users can search other's computers for music they want to download. However, Audiogalaxy adds a more musician friendly feature and lets any artist choose to host his or her music on its server. These hosted artists, including Beastie Boys and Local H, have CD reviews and pictures juxtaposed next to free sample tracks and "Buy CD" buttons.

Other small artists have bypassed intermediary programs like Weezer did with Maladriot, and hosted their music on personal sites. Lou Barlow from Folk Implosion (the lo-fi, indie duo that did most of the Kids soundtrack) has all the songs from his new solo album on loobiecore.com, in addition to selling it.

Though many believe bands' are reaping in the fans with samples only a few mouse clicks away, others are skeptical. "I don't see the argument that it lets bands who wouldn't be heard, heard. Most people I know download bands they know," said Mike Serfin (senior-political science).

Regardless of whom Internet music benefits, an all-inclusive stopper has not been devised. "The Internet is a global utility, not a national one, so it's hard to police," said Serfin.

Though Weezer fans are still working to "free Maladriot" from Interscope with online petitions, T-shirts, and posters, Internet music isn't going away. Napster is launching a new version of its software for a $5-10 dollar per month subscription fee, as soon as it finishes negotiating music licenses from major record labels later this year.