West Coast Connection Forum

Lifestyle => Tha G-Spot => Topic started by: Woodrow on September 04, 2002, 12:07:32 AM

Title: RIP Napster. For real this time...
Post by: Woodrow on September 04, 2002, 12:07:32 AM
RIP NAPSTER. THANKS FOR THE MP3S.

be sure to check out their page...

http://www.napster.com


SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- A bankruptcy judge blocked the sale of Napster Inc. to Bertelsmann AG on Tuesday, killing a deal that might have revived the idled Internet music pioneer as a legitimate music-sharing network.

Judge Peter J. Walsh, in Wilmington, Del., cited conflicting loyalties by Napster's top executive.

Napster CEO Konrad Hilbers, a Bertelsmann veteran, said the judge's decision likely will force Napster to change its reorganization effort into a Chapter 7 liquidation.

``Napster is disappointed with the bankruptcy court's decision not to approve the sale of the company's assets to Bertelsmann. As a result of the record companies' and music publishers' opposition, Napster's creditors will be denied substantial repayment and the company will likely be forced into Chapter 7 liquidation,'' Hilbers said in a statement.

Bertelsmann had sought to purchase the remains of the defunct Napster network for an additional $8 million after having already sunk $85 million into the Redwood City-based company to keep it afloat. Napster has been off line for more than a year and filed for bankruptcy protection in June.

Suits by several major record labels effectively destroyed Napster. Those record companies also filed motions in the bankruptcy case, vigorously objecting to the sale of the company to Bertelsmann, Germany's biggest media company.

Hilbers' divided allegiance between Napster and Bertelsmann drew scrutiny from Walsh as he looked at the proposed sale. The judge said he wanted to hear from someone who was in on negotiations, especially Hilbers. But Hilbers never took the stand and did not attend hearings on the bankruptcy matter.

The judge also cited an e-mail sent by Hilbers to Bertelsmann executives in which Hilbers confirmed his decision making as head of Napster always was driven by what was best for Bertelsmann.

A&M Records, Geffen Records, Interscope Records and other labels objected to the proposed Bertelsmann buyout, citing a reticence on the German media giant's part to turn over documents related to the loans and relationships between Napster and Bertelsmann.

The record companies questioned Bertelsmann's financing of an operation found to violate copyright infringement by U.S. District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel in California.

``The $72.5 million in funding provided by Bertelsmann to Napster was advanced, in each case, in a lump sum and without any procedures put in place to ensure that it would not be used to run Napster's illegal copyright infringement business,'' the record labels said in a recent court filing.

Napster's song swap servers have been down since July 2001, after a series of punishing rulings by Patel that Napster comply with her order to completely rid its network of unauthorized copyright recordings.

Bertelsmann issued a short statement Tuesday, acknowledging it would not buy the assets of the startup company that changed the way millions of computer users acquired and listened to music.

``We accept the court's decision that the sale of Napster's assets to Bertelsmann has been denied and that the purchase process will not proceed,'' Bertelsmann said.

Phil Leigh, an analyst for Raymond James & Associates who has followed the Napster saga through the courts, said the dwindling assets of the company could still bring a price if the record labels relent and allow access to their music catalogs. Without such access, Napster is dead and its value is in question, Leigh said.

``The determination of that value is really in the hands of the record companies,'' Leigh said. ``Whoever gobbles it up can do nothing unless they gain access to content.''

``It's like having a jet engine without wings. The airplane just won't fly.''

Napster use peaked with 13.6 million users in February 2001, according to comScore Media Metrix. The service went offline less than six months later, and the five largest record labels combined to form two subscription online music services, MusicNet and pressplay, to pick up the slack.

Morpheus, KaZaA and Gnutella networks, other free file-sharing avenues, still flourish on the Internet allowing the trade of various multimedia files.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/technology/AP-Napster.html
Title: Re: RIP Napster. For real this time...
Post by: lbc213 on September 04, 2002, 12:15:03 AM
Those good old Napster-dayz, damn


R I P kitty lol
Title: Re: RIP Napster. For real this time...
Post by: Lil Jay on September 04, 2002, 12:39:14 AM
lol (http://www.napster.com/bye.jpg)









man if you think about it, napster was the shit. you could find every song on there, really, anything you were lookin for, it was there. if it wasnt on mirc, you could be sure that napster had it. the rarest songs. i miss those days  :'(  
no one can ever fuck with napster, all those audiogalaxys and kazaa bullshit sowftware
Title: Re: RIP Napster. For real this time...
Post by: bez on September 04, 2002, 12:48:33 AM
Dam Yer I used to love the days when I was young and innocent and I could go on Napster and download anything, oh how I weep.

As 2Pac said:  Exit 2Pac enter Makaveli

As Bez says:  Exit Napster Enter KaZaA
Title: Re: RIP Napster. For real this time...
Post by: E. J. Rizo on September 04, 2002, 04:41:47 AM
RIP

the only service that came close to napster was Audio Galaxy and now that got shut down to the point that you cant find anything......but napster was the best there was out there.....they led the way to the rest of these file sharing clients......damn shame but fuck it i guess thats how it works......RIP Napster....you ded kitty
Title: Re: RIP Napster. For real this time...
Post by: ExZit on September 04, 2002, 04:45:38 AM
R to tha I P  :'(

its a shame i only had 56 k modem in those dayz.... i didnt download that much music back then..
Title: Re: RIP Napster. For real this time...
Post by: budsmokeronly on September 04, 2002, 04:52:11 AM
Quote
man if you think about it, napster was the shit. you could find every song on there, really, anything you were lookin for, it was there. if it wasnt on mirc, you could be sure that napster had it. the rarest songs. i miss those days      
no one can ever fuck with napster, all those audiogalaxys and kazaa bullshit sowftware
Title: Re: RIP Napster. For real this time...
Post by: FILA::AUS on September 04, 2002, 09:45:39 AM
Quote
lol


man if you think about it, napster was the shit. you could find every song on there, really, anything you were lookin for, it was there. if it wasnt on mirc, you could be sure that napster had it. the rarest songs. i miss those days  :'(  
no one can ever fuck with napster, all those audiogalaxys and kazaa bullshit sowftware


you are tripinnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnggggggggg !!!!

Audiogalaxy was the fucking PIMP DADDY to Napster when it came down to rare shit. Wid audiogalaxy u could see if it existed even there was no users on wid the file. I never liked Napster, coz ppl can decide whether they wanna share or now.

Napster sucked after the buzz wore off,  i was just praying that something new comes along. AG was the best shit to date UNTIL i was introduced to mIRC. I can't look back !!! mIRC pissess all over all other file sharing programs.

I agree though that Kazaa is wacker than a muthaphukkka. That software should be outlawed because its so shit, i feel sorry for ppl who have to rely on Kazaa to get files.
Title: Re: RIP Napster. For real this time...
Post by: Pillow on September 04, 2002, 10:21:36 AM
its all good tho cause kazza is jus as good
Title: Re: RIP Napster. For real this time...
Post by: Doggystylin on September 04, 2002, 11:19:44 AM
Quote
Dam Yer I used to love the days when I was young and innocent and I could go on Napster and download anything, oh how I weep.

As 2Pac said:  Exit 2Pac enter Makaveli

As Bez says:  Exit Napster Enter KaZaA


lmao
Title: Re: RIP Napster. For real this time...
Post by: bLaDe on September 04, 2002, 11:29:10 AM
Dat sucks...Napster had its downsides, but you could find any song on that program...it was the mother of mp3 sharing...R.I.P

 -{bLaDe}
Title: Re: RIP Napster. For real this time...
Post by: BossPlaya on September 04, 2002, 03:02:00 PM
Quote
Those good old Napster-dayz, damn


R I P kitty lol

Title: Re: RIP Napster. For real this time...
Post by: Sikotic™ on September 06, 2002, 04:25:34 PM
Ima miss Napster on tha reahlz