AfterDawn: News

Federal appeals court ruled Monday that Napster must stop it's free music sharing service.

In the ruling the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Napster must lock out those users who exchange copyrighted music without permission. Napster officials, of course, see this could lead to a shutdown of the service.



"This is a clear victory. The court of appeals found that the injunction is not only warranted, but required," said the president and CEO of RIAA, Hilary Rosen. "It's time for Napster to stand down and build their service the old-fashioned way - with permissions."

Napster was obviously disappointed with the court's ruling. "We will pursue every avenue in the courts and the Congress to keep Napster operating," said Napster in their statement.

Napster can stay in business until U.S. District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel retools her injunction. The appeals court found the previous injunction "overly broad".

If Napster can not find a way out of this the focus of the song swapping community will turn to the likes of Gnutella and EDonkey. It remains to be seen if it'll boost their development even further.


Written by: Jari Ketola @ 12 Feb 2001 12:27