Word: napsterized
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Bertelsmann insists the process will be "transparent"--that is, users won't know it is happening. But it would quickly rewrite the regulations of Napster, imposing rules on the relative anarchy that now exists. Napster would probably hand out different keys for different fees. Pay one fee, and you get to listen to some music. Pay more, and you get to keep the music by burning it onto...
Will this solve all of Napster's problems? Not by a long shot. There is still a major technology issue. The appeals court wanted Napster to develop a way of sorting through the music files and identifying the ones that are copyright-protected. It's in the works, says Barry. This traffic cop, he says, will most likely examine file names and check them against the titles of protected songs. The court, however, recognized the limits to Napster's ability to police its site...
This building block, which may be in place as early as this summer, would change the Napster experience markedly. When a user sends out a music file over the system, it will be "wrapped" in a protective layer. The layer will be a digital lock, similar to the encryption that keeps credit card numbers secure on the Internet. To open the file and get at the music, another user will need a digital key provided by Napster...
That may not be enough. Looking at file names alone is a glitchy method of recognizing a song. If Napster's system pulls down every file named La Vida Loca but leaves ones that users labeled, say, La Vida Loco containing the same song, the labels may well go back to court and demand more. "The question isn't what's going to be sufficient in the eyes of Napster," says Vance Ikezoye, CEO of Audible Magic, which makes software that identifies music files based on the actual music. "The question is going to be what kind of technology...
Getting those content owners--particularly the major music labels--to play ball at all will be another challenge for Napster, which has fought the labels aggressively in court. Now it needs to make nice, and get the companies to agree to license their songs. "The content partners are everything--they're the dealmakers or the deal breakers," says Ric Dube, an analyst with Webnoize. "Without them, all the technology in the world won't make a difference...