New Napster service
2002-01-11 16:31
San Francisco - In a major step toward its long delayed relaunch, online music
site Napster on Thursday began the public testing of its new music
service that is meant to work with the blessing of music companies.
Napster was the pioneer of the free swapping of music online
before it was forced to shut down in July for copyright violations.
The new Napster, which is controlled by German media giant
Bertelsmann, hopes that the new system, which is built to prevent
unauthorised copying, will allow it to sign deals with record
companies and return to its role of the online music leader.
The test version which debuted on Thursday carries about 100 000
music files and is accessible to around 20 000 people chosen from
among three million Napster users who volunteered to try out the
system.
Though the look and feel of the new Napster is very similar to
the old one, the test version contains only licensed material from
small record labels and no hits from major stars.
The underlying technology has also been changed to include
copyright protection features that prevent unauthorised songs from
being copied, to another PC, portable device or CD. The test
version also includes a music player, chat rooms, instant
messaging, and a "buy" button that allows users to click on a song
and buy the related album from music retail site CDNow.
The test version will be in place until Napster launches its
subscription service at an unspecified date later this year. The
company is negotiating with the five major record labels for the
rights to distribute their music. - DPA
- SAPA