Napster pulls plug on copyrighted music
Napster pulls plug on copyrighted music
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters): Napster Inc., facing a corporate
death sentence at the hands of a federal judge, bought itself a
brief reprieve on Friday by promising to block users from
accessing some one million music files covered by recording
industry copyrights.
Some industry analysts said, however, that the online music
song-swap service may still be singing its swan song.
Napster's last-ditch effort to conform with copyright law came
as U.S. District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel held a hearing on how
to formulate an injunction which fans fear could put the it out
of business.
Patel ended the hearing with a promise to draft an injunction
order "that is workable and makes sense" -- but gave no
indication when she might issue it. Legal observers do not expect
a lengthy wait.
Meanwhile, Napster's vow to filter out copyrighted music files
starting this weekend sparked cries of protest from users, who
have made the service wildly popular around the world by trading
everything from Chinese pop songs to Beethoven symphonies
compressed into handy MP3 computer files.
"Oh my God. I'd better finish downloading," said one Napster
devotee scrambling to grab as much music as possible before the
screening system takes effect.
Napster's lead attorney, David Boies, said the new copyright
protection system should allow the company to stay in business --
although many industry analysts questioned whether Napster would
still have the same appeal if it no longer offers the world's top
pop hits for free.
"I think Napster will still be the best music service out
there, (but) it will not be the same," Boies said.
Napster's offer came amid some two hours of argument from its
lawyers and representatives of the Recording Industry Association
of America (RIAA), which has sued the Internet upstart on charges
of facilitating widespread music piracy.
Industry analysts said while Napster's move may have won it
more time to negotiate with the recording industry, it did not
mark a sure path to survival for the company.
Although the two sides have scheduled more mediation next
week, Napster's decision to play by recording industry rules
could weaken its overall negotiating position while driving once-
loyal users to other services, they said.
"I'm sure that Napster usage will be very high this weekend
and it will be interesting to see the cat-and-mouse games as
users try to get around the blocking schemes," said Malcolm
Maclachlan, analyst with technology tracking firm International
Data Corp. "The main effect will be to grow usage on other peer-
to-peer networks like Aimster and Gnutella."