Napster is back in court in San Francisco today for a hearing that
many expect will conclude with a redrafted injunction to
effectively force the song swapping service to shut down in its
present form.
District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel issued an injunction against
Napster in July last year but it was suspended just hours before it
was due to come into effect when Napster appealed. The Appeals
Court has now ruled that the injunction should stand subject to
amendment of its terms. The terms of an amended injunction will
mean that Napster must prevent the unauthorised swapping of
copyrighted songs on its service pending a full hearing on the
copyright issues scheduled for later in the year.
Napster has also appealed the Appeal Court’s ruling to amend and
enforce the injunction, but a decision could take several weeks. It
is likely to ask for a stay of the amended injunction pending a
decision on the new appeal.
Napster’s recent $1 billion settlement offer was rejected by the
record companies.
A survey on the use of Napster in Europe released today by
market research firm Jupiter MMXI found that it is the 13th most
popular web site and that half of its users would pay to continue
with the service if it changed to a subscription model.
Analysis of Napster's audience shows that it is split into two
halves: 50% of users are under the age of 24, and the other 50% are
older, wealthier people. The audience is overwhelmingly male, with
only 23% of women making up the user profile.
