Our columnists Robert Trigaux Comments on business and finance news. The bay area company's plan is to link businesses together with a Napster-like technology.
Time is of the essence.
RealNet-works is joining with AOL Time Warner, Bertelsmann AG and EMI Group to form what the companies call the biggest online song subscription service to be licensed by the recording industry. The venture, called MusicNet, is scheduled to be available this year. Other music download services, most notably Napster, have come under fire for allowing free downloads of songs for which they don't own the copyrights. A faltering economy and fierce competition are causing a shakeout in Florida s laser eye surgery market. The industry has already begun to focus on the next gold ring.