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| From | kcronin <fiatluxury@yahoo.com> |
| Subject | from the "but I thought you said..." files |
| Date | Tue, 25 Feb 2003 15:11:08 -0800 (PST) |
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this was on yahoo news today...
Roxio Aims to Revive Napster Service
Tue Feb 25,11:14 AM ET
By MATTHEW FORDAHL, AP Technology Writer
SAN JOSE, Calif. - Napster (news - web sites), the
pioneering online music service, is getting another
lease on life with the launch by year's end of a
legal, subscription-based music business, its new
owners said Monday.
Roxio Inc., which bought Napster's name and
intellectual property for $5 million at a November
bankruptcy sale, said it is in discussions with the
five major music labels to provide content for the
online service.
Best known for its CD-creation and digital media
software, Roxio also hired Napster founder Shawn
Fanning this month as a consultant to the service,
said spokeswoman Kathryn Kelly.
But the new Napster won't be based on the famous
file-swapping technology that, boasting 60 million
users at its height, upset the record labels and
doomed the company in a sea of copyright infringement
litigation.
"Before it launches, it will have to be legal," Kelly
said. "And it will be top-tier content, not unheard-of
bands you see now with most of the subscription
services."
The old Napster, which halted the free file-swapping
frenzy in July 2001, was planning to launch its own
subscription service. But the company liquidated
before that service was publicly launched.
Much of the problem in launching the legal service
stemmed from the old company's poor relationship with
the major labels, which were suing at the same time
Napster was trying to strike distribution deals.
Though Roxio will keep the well-known Napster name, it
hopes its negotiations will go farther since it is
unencumbered by the litigation, Kelly said.
Also, Chris Gorog, who became Roxio's chief executive
in 2000, was previously an executive at Universal
Studios.
"Chris has the relationships with the entertainment
industry," Kelly said. "The record labels know we want
to do this the correct way and the legal way."
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oderint dum mentuant
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