.:HSTuners::

06-03-2002, 08:28 PM

Napster has reported that it has filed for bankruptcy protection, as German media giant Bertelsmann AG prepares to take over what remains of the once dominant Internet music-swapping service.

Napster listed $7.9 million in assets and about $101 million of debts as of April 30, according to papers filed with its voluntary Chapter 11 petition at the US Bankruptcy Court in Delaware.

The filing is part of a comeback plan for three-year-old Napster, which became one of the Internet's hottest properties by allowing millions of people to swap music online for free.

Though Napster was wildly popular, attracting nearly 60 million users at its peak, the music quickly died as major record labels sued the company for music piracy. Napster, based in Redwood City, California, has been offline since July.

"It still holds a sense of promise of being a universal jukebox," said Steve Jones, who heads the communications department at the University of Illinois at Chicago. "The name Napster can be revived, but it would take more than Bertelsmann alone to do it. It requires the agreement of major (record) labels to get Napster up and running the way it was."

A federal appeals court in San Francisco dealt closely held Napster a fresh setback in March, ordering it to remain shut until it complies with an injunction to remove all copyrighted music. Napster failed to find enough backing to relaunch as a royalty-paying service.

"The extraordinary costs associated with developing the New Napster Pay Service and defending against the Prepetition Lawsuits have depleted (Napster's) available cash reserves," and could have forced Napster to close by June, Chief Financial Officer Carolyn Jensen said in a court filing.

Calls to Napster were not immediately returned.

Bertelsmann stepped in on May 17 with $8 million to buy Napster's assets. Napster owes Bertelsmann $91 million, court papers show.

http://xtramsn.co.nz/business/0,,5086-1463293,00.html

94_AcCoRd_EX · 06-03-2002, 08:30 PM

That's an interesting article. I used Napster a lot when it was popular, but after the suits were filed, there wasn't too much hope left for the service.

ebpda9 · 06-03-2002, 08:33 PM

too bad somebody got to screw that up. i think napster was free advertising for them. just hearing about a song and downloading it made me get the cd

06-03-2002, 08:36 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by hondaman-iac
too bad somebody got to screw that up. i think napster was free advertising for them. just hearing about a song and downloading it made me get the cd

well since i started getting all my music for free i have only bought 5 cds in the last 3 years. all the rest were filled with filler! grrr they should just make better songs and people wouldn't complain. the problem is that everyones in it for the money and not the love of the music!

94_AcCoRd_EX · 06-03-2002, 08:42 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by hondaman-iac
just hearing about a song and downloading it made me get the cd

Just out of curiosity, why not d/l the whole CD? I have a friend who will refuse to burn whole CDs... instead he goes out and buys it

ebpda9 · 06-03-2002, 09:06 PM

well even if u download the whole cd, some of the songs will come off with a hiss or not the whole song, and downloading 500 version of it, then delete the ones that are not good, or stuff like that is just a pain in the rear. and if they made good music they deserve to get paid for it.

06-03-2002, 10:30 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by hondaman-iac
well even if u download the whole cd, some of the songs will come off with a hiss or not the whole song, and downloading 500 version of it, then delete the ones that are not good, or stuff like that is just a pain in the rear. and if they made good music they deserve to get paid for it.

read what biker said. I don't want to repeat stuff.

06-05-2002, 10:33 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by 94_AcCoRd_EX
That's an interesting article. I used Napster a lot when it was popular, but after the suits were filed, there wasn't too much hope left for the service.

very much agree...i was using Napster like there was no tomorrow!!!....i never use it anymore and i knew it was gonna die out soon...just b/c..who is gonna pay a fee to download music when they can just use another source (WinMX, KaZaA, Morpheus(sp?), etc.)

06-05-2002, 03:43 PM

true but if everyone started charging or limited speeds if you didn't pay you might think about paying for free music

06-03-2002, 08:28 PM	#1
mt.biker Posts: n/a	Napster Files for Bankruptcy Napster has reported that it has filed for bankruptcy protection, as German media giant Bertelsmann AG prepares to take over what remains of the once dominant Internet music-swapping service. Napster listed $7.9 million in assets and about $101 million of debts as of April 30, according to papers filed with its voluntary Chapter 11 petition at the US Bankruptcy Court in Delaware. The filing is part of a comeback plan for three-year-old Napster, which became one of the Internet's hottest properties by allowing millions of people to swap music online for free. Though Napster was wildly popular, attracting nearly 60 million users at its peak, the music quickly died as major record labels sued the company for music piracy. Napster, based in Redwood City, California, has been offline since July. "It still holds a sense of promise of being a universal jukebox," said Steve Jones, who heads the communications department at the University of Illinois at Chicago. "The name Napster can be revived, but it would take more than Bertelsmann alone to do it. It requires the agreement of major (record) labels to get Napster up and running the way it was." A federal appeals court in San Francisco dealt closely held Napster a fresh setback in March, ordering it to remain shut until it complies with an injunction to remove all copyrighted music. Napster failed to find enough backing to relaunch as a royalty-paying service. "The extraordinary costs associated with developing the New Napster Pay Service and defending against the Prepetition Lawsuits have depleted (Napster's) available cash reserves," and could have forced Napster to close by June, Chief Financial Officer Carolyn Jensen said in a court filing. Calls to Napster were not immediately returned. Bertelsmann stepped in on May 17 with $8 million to buy Napster's assets. Napster owes Bertelsmann $91 million, court papers show. http://xtramsn.co.nz/business/0,,5086-1463293,00.html

06-03-2002, 08:30 PM	#2
94_AcCoRd_EX Insomniac Moderator Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: OR Age: 44 Posts: 11,142	That's an interesting article. I used Napster a lot when it was popular, but after the suits were filed, there wasn't too much hope left for the service. __________________ 1994 Accord EX coupe --Need hosting for your pics on HST? PM me...--

06-03-2002, 08:33 PM	#3
ebpda9 Repost Wagon Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: over here Age: 44 Posts: 17,266	too bad somebody got to screw that up. i think napster was free advertising for them. just hearing about a song and downloading it made me get the cd __________________

06-03-2002, 09:06 PM	#6
ebpda9 Repost Wagon Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: over here Age: 44 Posts: 17,266	well even if u download the whole cd, some of the songs will come off with a hiss or not the whole song, and downloading 500 version of it, then delete the ones that are not good, or stuff like that is just a pain in the rear. and if they made good music they deserve to get paid for it. __________________

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06-05-2002, 03:43 PM	#9
mt.biker Posts: n/a	true but if everyone started charging or limited speeds if you didn't pay you might think about paying for free music