Napster, the pioneering online music file swapping service, will be relaunched by the end of the year by its new owner as a legal subscription service.
Roxio, a company which makes software for CD-burners, bought Napster’s name and associated patents for $5m in November.
Napster’s founder Shawn Fanning is back with the company as a consultant after Roxio hired him earlier this month.
The new Napster will no longer allow file-swapping which attracted 60 million users at the peak of its popularity before annoyed record labels brought the company down with legal suits.
“The record labels know we want to do this the correct way and the legal way,” said a Roxio spokeswoman.
Legal tussles
“And it will be top-tier content, not unheard-of bands you see now with most of the subscription services,” she added.
The original Napster halted file swapping in July 2001.
Last Friday, a group of songwriters, composers and music publishers has launched a $17bn lawsuit against German media giant Bertelsmann, alleging that it helped Napster deprive them of royalties.
Roxio bought Napster on the condition it would not carry any potential liabilities.
The story of Napster will also be the subject of a feature film.
( From Sprycha.com )
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