David Bowie predicts Napster rebirth
British rock icon David Bowie wades into the controversy surrounding Napster Friday, predicting that the company would be resurrected following its legal troubles.
Speaking on Channel 4's Big Breakfast show Bowie said he believed the record industry would eventually embrace the technology behind Napster in order to take advantage of the popularity of file-sharing.
Bowie predicts that the dispute between the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and Napster will be resolved within six months and that the application will be revived in a form that generated revenue for artists.
"Then Napster will be just one of many," Bowie told Channel 4 News. A US judge imposed an injunction on Napster Thursday ordering the company to stop users trading copyrighted music from today.
Bowie has long been a fan of MP3 and has a history of involvement in Internet projects, which include his own ISP and online bank.
His view of the commercial viability of Napster is borne out by a study produced this week by research group Jupiter. This concludes that industry pressure would eventually mean that Napster users would be forced to pay to download copyright protected music.
Since Thursday's ruling a host of anti-RIAA sites have sprung up encouraging Napster users to boycott major label recording artists. Other comparable services such as Gnutella have also reported a huge increase in user base.
Take me to the Napster Special please
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