Cnet.com reports that Napster is still not open for users to share their MP3 collections. After releasing a new version of the software, making the older versions useless, they decided to shutdown their server, as there was still copyrighted music coming trough.
The company denies that this is the end of Napster, and says the recent shutdown has nothing to do with the paid service they will introduce soon.
This week's shutdown was not related to the paid service, which Napster partner Bertelsmann originally said would launch at the beginning of July, a spokeswoman said. Napster executives have been more cautious with their promises, saying only that the subscription service will launch sometime this summer. |
The temporary shutdown isn't drawing much of a reaction from file-traders, who have already seen the service dwindle into a shadow of its former self.
"To get actual, real use out of Napster now is more trouble than it's worth," said Wayne Chang, a onetime heavy Napster user. "It is just like pre-Napster days now, except I know what the (Recording Industry Association of America) is and why I hate them."
And this is what the NapsterWebsite says about the temporarily shut down and the error message you will get:
Q: Explain "upgrading the database to support file identification." A: There are now over 800,000 musical works for which Napster has received notice from record companies and publishing companies. The database of these works had to be rebuilt to support the new file identification technology, and when you're dealing with such large numbers, things are bound to be complicated. |
Q: When I try to download a file using the Windows application, I get the following error message: "Incomplete! [Remote peer canceled transfer]." What does that mean?
A: That message, which wasn't designed for this event, is the only language the server knows how to send the Napster application under these circumstances. The message returned by the Mac application is a bit more illuminating: "transfers unavailable at this time due to server maintenance, see web site for details."
Source: Cnet
