Napster file sharing here to stay
Bertelsmann backs Napster on eve of court ruling
By Audrey Stuart, FTMarketWatch
Last Update: 6:16 AM ET Feb 11, 2001 NewsWatch
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CANNES, France (FTMW) -- On the eve of a defining Los Angeles court ruling on the legality of file-sharing websites like Napster, whose free music service has shaken the industry, the upstart's heavyweight partner, Bertelsmann, says Napster's file-swapping approach will grow, not disappear regardless of the judgment.
"Whatever the court ruling, people will continue to share files over the Internet and we cannot escape facts," Bertelsmann eCommerce Group President and CEO Andreas Schmidt told the Milia international interactive content market in Cannes late on Saturday.
"Napster is not alone. There are many, many other services out there. File sharing is here to stay and will flourish," Schmidt told industry leaders at a think tank ahead of the four-day Milia conference.
Court ruling due Monday
Schmidt's presentation was video taped in New York after he decided to cancel his trip to Cannes in order to travel to Los Angeles for the Napster court ruling due on Monday.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is due to release its decision by the three-judge panel will be released at 11 a.m. Los Angeles time on Monday (1900 GMT).
The recording industry wants Napster shut down, alleging it is contributing to widespread copyright infringement, and is pursuing legal action against the company in federal court in San Francisco. Bertelsmann, however, blew that consensus apart by agreeing a major deal with Napster aimed at making it a key legitimate outlet for online music sales.
The question before the appeals court is whether to remove Napster from the Internet or allow it to keep operating while that case continues. The 9th Circuit temporarily halted a federal judge's July order shutting down Napster so it could decide Napster's short-term status for itself. See AP story on CBSMarketWatch on court case.
Bertelsmann's Schmidt underlined his company's groundbreaking alliance last November with Napster is here to stay. "Bertelsmann is committed to Napster as we know it is necessary to pioneer this field, like we did with AOL (AOL: news, chart) in Internet services," he said.
Real people love Napster
Napster's huge success is due to three factors, said Schmidt. Firstly, it is supremely easy to use, secondly it has become the global music archive and thirdly, it has done this through creating a community of users.
Before Napster, an online music fan would take hours to track down and download a particular song, using different search engines. Today, Napster counts more than 60 million users worldwide.
Schmidt said he believes that as more media gets Napterised, the industry will see an exchange of music files over other platforms, including mobile networks.
"The mobile network will become the Walkman of the future," he said.
Taking a look at how content-providers will adapt to this new consumer behaviour, Schmidt believes we will see a huge increase in music content over mobile networks. "The potential for the (music) content industry is huge to provide new services over mobile systems. Add in broadband and the opportunities are even greater."
"Our charter is to make sure that we find the right new business models to develop our content on the networks of the future," said Schmidt, adding, "We should stop trying to block technical changes but foster and develop them."
Schmidt, however, made no reference to comments made recently by Bertelsmann CEO Thomas Middelhoff who told the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, last month that a pay-for-play version of Napster will be ready in June to July.
See the Los Angeles Court website.
See the Napster website. |
