Napster broadsided over piracy, Itunes

IT SEEMS that the name Napster is still linked to piracy even after the digital music service was made legitimate.

Three shareholders of Napster want to be elected to the company board, saying current management had not been aggressive enough in battling pirates.

Perry Rod, Thomas Sailors and Kavan Singh are preparing an independent proxy after their May 21 application to Napster's board for nomination was rejected on June 13.

It is not quite clear why the three seem to have a bee in their bonnet about the company not doing enough about pirates.

But they are certainly miffed that 85 per cent of shareholder value has been eroded since the heady days of $10 shares back in 2005. Then there was Itunes.

The trio reckons that, since Napster abandoned its ill fated DRM protection, it has done nothing to curb online file sharing.

The three also believe that Napsters board are not doing enough to bring down Apple's Itunes.

The shareholder group said Napster's management strategy seemed to be sit and wait until Apple made a mistake. µ

L'Inq
Reuters