The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit granted Napster's request for a stay from a lower-court judge's order one week ago that it remain shut down. Last Wednesday Judge Marilyn Patel ordered Napster to stay offline until it can prove that its song-screening technology doesn't have any holes, asking Napster to provide 100% bullet-proof screening technology.
Napster went offline in beginning of July, not because of court order, but because they had to shut down the servers for a maintenance. And before company could restart the service, court made its order.
Appeals court can still rule against Napster -- Napster has to file its briefs to court before August 9th and after Napster has filed its briefs, RIAA has 28 days time to file its own briefs.
Written by: Petteri Pyyny @ 20 Jul 2001 2:00