Word: napstered
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Dates: during 2000-2000
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...Napster's Come Undone
...Under the deal, BMG will pull out of the Napster case as soon as the company develops a for-pay version of the service that accommodates the rights of copyright holders. Bertelsmann will also chip in with a loan in the tens of millions - most of which will be sunk into developing song- and user-tracking technology, which is how royalties will be toted up - in exchange for options on as much as 58 percent of Napster...
...music service were conspicuously absent, as was any sign of a standing-down by the other big labels. But that seems entirely appropriate - while everyone seems to agree that some alliance between Big Music and the Internet is an inevitable future, a business model has yet to emerge. Napster, apparently, will be the laboratory. "This is a call for the industry to wake up," said Middelhoff, adding that BMG "couldn't ignore" Napster's 38 million users. "They can't all be criminals...
...Maybe. But if they're merely cheap, Gnutella and FreeNet are still in business - as is Napster, pending the lawsuit's outcome. With his legal department looking on, Middelhoff figures Bertelsmann's getting a speculative stake in the online music revolution. But as mp3.com can tell you, taking the "r" out of "free" can drive users away faster than yelling "directed by Kevin Costner" in a crowded movie theater...
...right now, all he's really got so far is the lousy T-shirt 19-year-old Napster founder Shawn Fanning (wearing a suit) handed him at the press conference...