US buy brings Napster burning back

Napster, the file-sharing scourge of the music industry, seems likely to rise from the ashes and become part of the CD "burning" revolution.

Roxio, the American CD-writing software maker, is poised to buy most of Napster's assets in a deal valued at $5.3m (£3.35m).

The deal must be approved by the US bankruptcy court. If it is given the go-ahead next week, Roxio will secure Napster's intellectual property, brand name, internet domain name and the famous Cat logo. However, Roxio is not assuming any of Napster's liabilities, including any relating to pending litigation.

Rival bidders have a week to top Roxio's offer. But if the company's bid is successful it will then decide whether to resurrect the Napster name or simply integrate its technology with the Roxio product offering. Roxio is one of the world's leading providers of software which assists the recording, or "burning" of digital media on to a compact disc.

Napster shot to fame as the dotcom bubble inflated and, at its peak two years ago, internet users swapped tens of millions of songs across Napster's network. The music industry accused the company of piracy because its technology allowed CD-quality songs to be downloaded without charge on to a computer's hard drive.

The major music labels, which blame online piracy for a dramatic drop in CD sales, took Napster to court for infringing copyright laws, essentially shutting it down in July last year.

Napster finally closed its operations in September after the bankruptcy courts stopped Bertelsmann's BMG label acquiring its assets. Although Napster could not complete the journey it had started, it is credited with triggering rapid advances in file-swapping technology.

Since Napster's demise, music and media companies have been exploring ways to tap into the demand for file sharing. They have acknowledged the need to provide more "burnable" content, seen as critical in persuading customers to pay for file sharing.