Interim CEO Hank Barry unveiled a version of the business model that the company has for months been privately urging record executives to accept. The company also promises to build industrial-strength security into its network to prevent unauthorized copying. But the labels hold all the legal cards and, not surprisingly, show no inclination to compromise. They need to shut down. Then we can talk.
Time is on the labels' side.
Their application for an order to shut down Napster is in the hands of Federal District Court Judge Marilyn Hall Patel, and she could issue an injunction anytime. Meanwhile, Napster users weren't exactly moving mountains. That put Napster back where it started 18 months ago, when its best hope of fending off a crippling legal blow was to make peace with the labels. But money alone won't bring the record labels around. And in this high-stakes game, the upstart company isn't ready to cash in its chips.