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Reports on the teamup of Napster and Best Buy to enlist new subscribers.

The article focuses on Shawn Fanning, who pioneered free online music sharing through file-sharing service Napster. Grokster, which emerged after the original Napster vanished, has stopped distributing its software and has agreed to pay the recording industry $50 million. Fanning's new company, Snocap, will use peer-to-peer technology built by Fanning, that requires file-swappers to pay for copyrighted material. Snocap, sanctioned by the record industry, has produced software that will enable music services to fulfill Napster's original promise while monitoring the file-trading for copyrighted works.

Sean Parker, the 32-year-old billionaire and former president of Facebook -- played by Justin Timberlake in ''The Social Network'' -- was sitting on the top floor of his town house in the West Village of Manhattan last month, lamenting that too few entrepreneurs continue taking big risks after their first great success. ''Every good entrepreneur I know ends up in the wasteland of being a venture capitalist. It's really frustrating,'' he said. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When Americans first started exploring the online world en masse in the early 1990s, many of them headed for AOL's chat rooms to connect with other curious strangers. But since then, the appeal of random online encounters has faded with the rise of sites like Facebook, where most people tend to interact with people they already know. Now a few services are trying to recreate the spontaneity of that earlier era, adding a modern twist: live video chats. The latest of these, Airtime, made its debut on Tuesday. It garnered some extra attention because its founders, Sean Parker and Shawn Fanning, who were behind the Napster music-sharing service, are well-known figures in the tech world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rhapsody, the subscription digital music service, said on Monday that it had signed an agreement to acquire Napster from Best Buy, uniting two cloud music players amid escalating competition in a growing market. With the deal, which is expected to be completed by the end of November, Rhapsody would absorb Napster's subscribers and acquire other assets, including the Napster brand name and logo. Best Buy would receive a minority ownership in Rhapsody. Other terms of the deal were not disclosed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sean Parker, a co-founder of Napster and the founding president of Facebook, has expressed sardonic irritation at his portrayal as a hard-partying playboy in the film ''The Social Network.'' ''I'm definitely not having as much fun as the press likes to claim,'' he said in an interview via e-mail, ''but it's probably for the better. However, when I do have a party I will do it right.'' [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

''There's too much money chasing too few deals.'' Sean Parker, the entrepreneur behind Napster and Facebook now turned investor, was talking about the state of the venture capital industry last week over coffee. At 30, Mr. Parker, who was recently portrayed by Justin Timberlake in ''The Social Network,'' has been thinking a lot about innovation - or the lack of it - in the United States. And he's come to a depressing conclusion about the money industry that he says used to be ''the engine of innovation'' for this country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Best Buy Company said Monday that it planned to buy the digital music service Napster for $121 million to compete with Apple's dominant iTunes service and its iPod music players. Best Buy, one of the largest sellers of CDs, and Napster, once the best-known name in digital music, offer digital subscription services, but neither has mounted much of a challenge to Apple, which holds more than 70 percent of the digital music market in the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article reports that in an effort to build an online music service company AOL LLC has agreed to sell its AOL Music Now to Napster Inc. For this deal, Napster will pay $15 million to add AOL's 350,000 subscribers to its own 566,000. According to Fred Moran, an analyst with Stanford Group Co., the deal was positive for Napster. AOL and Napster both charge new customers $9.95 a month if they want to listen to music on a computer.

The article reports about a lawsuit which has been filed by Intertainer Inc., against Apple, Google Inc., and Napster Inc. Intertainer was founded by Jonathan T. Taplin and two other Hollywoood entertainment executives in 1996. The lawsuit has been filed because all the three companies were trespassing a 2005 patent which covers the commercial distribution of audio and video of films over the Internet.

This article presents information on the attempts of Napster Inc. to find an alternative for its financial crisis. According to a recent announcement by the company, UBS Investment Bank has been hired by the company to examine alternatives including a sale or an alliance. The Los Angeles, California-based company sought a bankruptcy protection in 2002.

The article reports on the new Web offering of Napster Inc. that gives users the chance to listen to more than two million tracks free.

Reports on the online music subscription service launched by Yahoo! Inc. to compete against providers like Rhapsody from RealNetworks Inc. and Napster Inc. with lower pricing.

Presents updates on the operations and financial performance of American telecommunication firm Verizon Wireless and Internet firm Napster as of March 4, 2005.

Focuses on the business performance of Napster Inc. in New York City. Efforts of the firm to control the illegal copying of music files; Increase on the level of competition; Factors affecting the revenue growth of the company.

Reports on the financial performance of the online music service Napster Inc. in the U.S. Occurrence of business losses; Improvement of the business outlook for the fiscal year 2005.

Reports on the decline in the value of stocks of Napster Inc. because of concern on the increasing competition from other providers of Internet music subscription services.

Reports on the effort of Bertelsmann AG to provide financial help to the Napster file-sharing service and settle its accusations from Bridgeport Music, a small company, in the U.S. Liability of Bertelsmann for aiding online piracy; Chances for record companies to extract payment for the piracy problem; Responsibility of online firms for the theft of songs.

Reports on the increase in the number of paid subscribers of Napster Inc. in the U.S.

Reports that the music industry has turned to a man they once reviled for help. Shawn Fanning, the inventor of Napster who is now working on a new venture called Snocap which is a software which would recognize songs being made available on a peer-to-peer network and allow copyright holders to set a price and use terms for consumers who wish to download them; Venture which has the support of music industry heavyweights such as Vivendi Universal which has made a deal with Fanning; Details on the software and its limitations.

Looks at colleges and universities who have made deals with Napster and its competitors to provide students with legal digital music options. Number of people sued by the Recording Industry Association of America for illegal file sharing; Pennsylvania State University's deal with Napster, the network that works with recording companies to sell digital music; Three options for students who want music for portable devices.

Reports on the decision of Pennsylvania State University to cover the cost of providing students with a legal method to download music from the internet or campus network. Departure from efforts to stop music swapping on college campuses; Deal between Penn State and the revised Napster online service; Expectation that other Universities will follow suit; Comments of Graham Spanier, the president of Penn State; Details of the program; Cost to the university.

Reports on a plan by Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment to sell their joint online music service Pressplay to Roxio, the company that bought Napster's name and assets. Background on Roxio, known for its CD-recording software; Difficulties measuring the value of such a deal; Criticism of Napster by the record industry for promoting a cultural acceptance of online piracy; Why Universal and Sony may have problems attracting customers to a such a service; Details of the proposed deal.

Reports that Konrad Hilbers, chief executive officer of Napster, announced on September 3, 2002 that the company was headed for liquidation.

Examines the implications of Thomas Middelhoff's ouster from Bertelsmann for Napster, the bankrupt online music service that Middelhoff championed. View that Bertelsmann may be less inclined to purchase the service from bankruptcy; How Middelhoff's investment in Napster symbolized his efforts to transform the German conglomerate; Views of analysts; Complexity of Bertelsmann's relations with Napster.

Reports on the decision of Bertelsmann company to buy the assets of Napster company.

Reports the resignations of Napster chief executive Konrad Hilbers, its founder Shawn Fanning, and several of the company's top executives. Implications, including the possible bankruptcy of the free online music exchange service; Collapse of negotiations between Napster and German media conglomerate Bertelsmann; Popularity of Napster, which let people exchange music at no charge; Hurdles that Napster was facing, including a lawsuit by major record companies; Outlook.

Discusses the possibility that the German media conglomerate Bertelsmann will buy Napster, an online music-trading service. Support of Bertelsmann's chief executive, Thomas Middelhoff, for the acquisition; Implications for the antitrust lawsuit filed against Napster by several record labels, including BMG, a division of Bertelsmann; Background of the antitrust investigation.

Focuses on the opposition of the record industry to the existence of free music exchange services on the Internet. Mention of Napster, an online music sharing service which was ruled illegal; Lawsuit brought by the music and movie industries against three services that allow users to freely exchange digital media, Kazaa, Grokster, and Morpheus; Decline in revenue from global music sales, which the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry attributes to the copying of music.

Discusses the ruling of Judge Marilyn Patel of Federal District Court in Northern California in the case between America's major record companies and online music-swapping service Napster. Allowance by Patel for Napster to seek evidence that the record companies colluded to monopolize the digital music market; Way that such evidence could invalidate the lawsuit against Napster by the recording industry; Response by Napster and the record companies.

Reports on the request of record companies to suspend their three year lawsuit against Napster in the U.S. Details on the ruling of Judge Marilyn Patel on the request; Reason of the businesses for requesting the suspension; Comments of Recording Industry Association of America President Hilary Rosen on the issue.

Reports on the agreement of Internet music service Napster to settle a copyright lawsuit with songwriters and music publishers and to make royalty payments once it started a fee-based service.

Reports on the appointment of Konrad Hilbers, a former executive of Bertelsmann, as chief executive of Napster.

Reports on the anticipated naming of Konrad Hilbers as chief executive officer of Napster Inc. How the appointment reflects Napster's fight for survival; Career details on Hilbers, including his position with Bertelsmann AG, which has had a complex relationship with Napster; Comments of Hank Barry, who took over as Napster's interim executive in May 2000.

Focuses on the emergency appeal of Napster Internet music service from Judge Marilyn Patel's order that the company should be allowed to resume its service if it is making reasonable efforts to filter copyrighted works.

Reports on the order issued by Federal District Judge Marilyn Patel that the Internet music sharing service of Napster company remain shut down until it can effectively filter copyrighted music material.

Presents technology-related news briefs in the United States as of June 2001, which includes information on the licensing agreement signed by Napster with British trade associations.

Reports that the online music service Napster is close to an agreement for permission to use music from three major record companies in a subscription-based version of its service. Mention of a lawsuit filed by the music industry against Napster for copyright infringement; How a deal with the companies, Warner Music, BMG Entertainment and EMI Group, could help Napster become a profitable business; Report that Napster has agreed to license music from MusicNet, a consortium owned by the three companies and RealNetworks.

Reports that Judge Marilyn Hall Patel of United States District Court has requested help on the copyright case against Napster Inc.

Discusses the dynamic between music companies and their formerly loyal customers who turned to music-swapping site Napster, in terms of a dysfunctional couple, in which the delicate trust between buyer and seller have been shaken. Plans for subscription music services by music companies EMI, BMG, and AOL Time Warner under the MusicNet name, and by Sony and Universal; Feelings of both consumers and the industry; Outlook for reconciliation; Insight from psychologist John Gottfried.

Deals with the criticism made by United States District Court Judge Marilyn Patel on the efforts of Napster company to filter copyright works online.

Focuses on the decision of Napster users to consider alternatives in accessing copyrighted songs online.

Reports the result of a survey conducted by Jupiter Media Metrix on the use of Napster online music service outside the United States.

Discusses the relationship between music artists and the recording industry executives who represent them. Amount of money made off of artists by their record companies for the distribution of their music; Thoughts of both sides toward Internet-based music services, such as Napster; Litigation brought by artists against record executives, including Courtney Love against Vivendi Universal for only offering long-term contracts to artists.

Focuses on the request made by the Recording Industry Association of America to a federal court to force Napster to tighten a filter designed to prevent users from exchanging copyrighted files online.