`
`GEAR SCIENCE ENTERTAINMENT BUSINESS SECURITY DESIGN OPINION VIDEO INSIDER MAGAZINE SUBSCRIBE
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`ENTERTAINMENT : MUSIC
`
`Napster's Assets Go for a Song
`
`Brad King
`
` 11.28.02
`
`Napster will rise again -- sort of -- thanks to a software company that makes CD- and DVD-burning
`software. The company, Roxio, faces the long odds of transforming the network into a secure, legal
`service.
`
`Roxio purchased the company's intellectual property for $5 million on Wednesday, rescuing it from
`bankruptcy court, where it had languished since June. Roxio's plan is to create a subscription music
`service that can be combined with its software.
`
`"Roxio has received ... all of Napster's intellectual property including but not limited to the name,
`trademarks, domain name and their extensive technology portfolio," the company said in a release.
`But Roxio won't take on any debt stemming from previous lawsuits against Napster.
`
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`SERVICES
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`Roxio executives refused to provide details about the planned file-trading service.
`
`When it launches, however, it could face an uphill battle.
`
`Quick Links: Contact Us | Login/Register | Newsletter | RSS
`Feeds | Tech Jobs | Wired Mobile | FAQ | Sitemap
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`The cadre of existing music subscription services include MusicNet and PressPlay, both of which have
`financial ties to the five major record labels that once sued Napster.
`
`Then there are the free file-trading services. Kazaa, Morpheus and Gnutella all eventually overcame
`Napster in popularity, despite the Recording Industry Association of America's legal assault on file
`trading.
`
`Even if Roxio can overcome those hurdles, few have found commercial success transforming rogue
`services into legitimate businesses.
`
`The closest anyone has come was with Scour, a multimedia file-trading network forced into
`bankruptcy. CenterSpan purchased Scour's assets for $9 million. The company transformed Scour
`into C-StarOne, a delivery service that uses peer-to-peer technology to store and stream content.
`
`"We're a technology company, not a retail company," said CenterSpan CEO Frank Housmann. "We
`believe there are other companies out there more successful than we are (at selling music and
`movies). But we provide the technology that will allow them to do that."
`
`CenterSpan's biggest customer, Vivendi Universal Net, offers content through sites like MP3.com and
`EMusic.com.
`
`Other companies haven't fared as well.
`
`Australia's Sharman Networks, which purchased the Kazaa file-sharing technology from two Dutch
`programmers, continues to lock horns with the RIAA over copyright infringement. This week, U.S.
`District Judge Stephen Wilson said he will soon give a ruling on whether U.S. copyright-infringement
`laws could be applied outside the country.
`
`Even Napster offers a cautionary tale.
`
`A federal judge shuttered the service in July 2000 for massive copyright infringement. As a result of a
`lawsuit against it by the RIAA, Napster was mired for months in bankruptcy court.
`
`During that time, German conglomerate Bertelsmann AG tried but failed to persuade its media allies
`at Vivendi, Sony and AOL Time Warner to back its plan to build a music subscription service.
`
`Bertelsmann offered $20 million to buy Napster from bankruptcy court -- on top of the $85 million it
`had already poured into the development of a secure file-sharing system. But a bankruptcy judge
`ruled that Napster CEO Konrad Hilbers, a former Bertelsmann employee, had used his influence to
`lock out other bids.
`
`See Also:
`Music Labels: Streaming Is Swell
`
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`http://www.wired.com/entertainment/music/news/2002/11/56633[3/18/2014 2:59:58 PM]
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`Apple Exhibit 4398
`Apple v Sightsound Technologies
`CBM2013-00023
`Page 00001
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`
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`Napster's Assets Go for a Song
`
`Napster Co-Founder's New Venture
`
`Kazaa Taunts Record Biz: Catch Us
`
`Related Topics:
`Entertainment , Tech Biz , Music , Media
`
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