According to Napster CEO, Hank Barry, the answer is a
vehement “no.” However, rumors are flying throughout the industry
that not just one, but two large ISPs are currently in talks to purchase
the popular music-trading website – currently sporting a pricetag of a cool $500 million. That move could effectively skirt the
long legal battle with the record industry that’s unavoidable as the situation stands now.
If an ISP does acquire Napster, they would have access to Napster’s network of 32 million registered users.
They would also require that users pay for trading as a premium service, and they’d pass along a portion of the fees
to the record labels. Obviously, that scenario would appease, at least to some degree, the record industry folks foaming at the mouth over
what they see as lost revenue. It’s all coming down folks, keep downloading.
Source: MTV Online
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