Napster = Bankruptcy

[John]

Napster founder Shawn Fanning quit the revolutionary online file-swapping service he created in his Boston dorm room in a mass exodus Tuesday that almost certainly signals the end for the once-feisty music service.

Fanning, Chief Executive Konrad Hilbers and three other senior executives resigned after infighting on the board led to the collapse of negotiations between Napster and German media conglomerate Bertelsmann.

...In the end, money proved Napster's undoing.

Ripped from here


** Most of us knew this day was comming anyhow. I bet Lars Ulrich has a big smile on his face. Goodbye Napster, hello Kazaa!

 

[Soulflare]

You were still using Napster?!

 

[FoBoT]

hee haw

did they make any money? or was it all just venture capital?

 

[Rallispec]

<<Goodbye Napster, hello Kazaa>>


word

 

[John]

Originally posted by: Soulflare
You were still using Napster?!

No.

I wonder how much Fanning pocketed out of the whole deal.

 

[mithrandir2001]

Originally posted by: John

I wonder how much Fanning pocketed out of the whole deal.

Even if he didn't make a dime, he made it to the cover of Time.

 

[Soulflare]

Originally posted by: John

Originally posted by: Soulflare
You were still using Napster?!

No.

I wonder how much Fanning pocketed out of the whole deal.

Doesn't he owe RIAA his soul, for like eternity?

 

[kgraeme]

...In the end, money proved Napster's undoing.

This is a bit off. It would probably be a little more accurate to say that the RIAA's bevy of lawyers forced Napster to spend buttloads of money on their own lawyers instead of focusing on their business.

 

[ThePresence]

Bankrupt indeed

 

[luv2chill]

As of April 30, Napster had about $7.9 million in assets and about $101 million in liabilities, according to the filings made in Wilmington, Del

OUCH...

l2c

 

[Beau]

Originally posted by: luv2chill

As of April 30, Napster had about $7.9 million in assets and about $101 million in liabilities, according to the filings made in Wilmington, Del

OUCH... l2c

No kidding.

 

[Nocturnal]

wasnt kazaa shut down as well?

 

[hoihtah]

damm... why didn't just fold down the tent when they lost the law suit?
wouldn't that have alleviated some financial loss?

 

[John]

Originally posted by: Nocturnal
wasnt kazaa shut down as well?

I don't think so. I am using Kazaa Lite 1.71 as we speak.

 

[Beau]

Originally posted by: Nocturnal
wasnt kazaa shut down as well?

The company that was providing their hosting/lines cut them off I think. They were down for a while, but switched hosts.

 

[GTaudiophile]

Thanks for the ride, Shawn! It was fun while it lasted.

RIP, Napster.

 

[pac1085]

Dunno if I'm reading this right but it sounds like Bertelsmann gave napster 8 million and told them to file for bankruptcy.

Bertelsmann stepped in on May 17 with $8 million to buy Napster's assets. As part of that agreement, Napster was to seek bankruptcy protection and emerge as a wholly-owned unit of Europe's second- largest media group.

 

[CQuinn]

Originally posted by: John

Originally posted by: Nocturnal
wasnt kazaa shut down as well?

I don't think so. I am using Kazaa Lite 1.71 as we speak.

Kazaa BV, the company (in the Netherlands) that started Kazaa, folded due to legal pressure in the
various lawsuits against it. Kazaa the service was sold to Sharman Networks, a corporate entity
that exists (so far) outside normal jurisdictions.