Napster: Mad Rush to Download Spurred by Courts

Today's ruling by the court could result in the Napster web site and service shutting down, which would leave over 50 million users without the popular file-sharing service. In a mad rush to download what could be the last free songs served up by the controversial site, over 12,000 users swapped more than 2.2 million MP3 files on Sunday. It has been estimated that that number of songs, with an estimated average playing time of 4 minutes each, would take over 17 years to listen to back to back.

The major record labels, and most notably Sony, Warner, BMG, EMI, and Universal, hope the court's decision will force users to pay for the music they had previously downloaded for free. Those labels filed suit against the upstart company when it was launched, noting that it would bilk them out of billions of dollars of profits. If Napster wins, however, hundreds of other businesses looking to enter the market would release their own MP3-swapping technology.

Hillary Rosen, president of the Recording Industry Association of America, has noted that "Monday's decision may finally clear the way for the legitimate online marketplace to thrive in an environment that encourages both creativity and a respect for copyright."