Then last week, a chastened Napster released a new version of its software. This one has even better features than its previous trailblazer. Yet there is one huge blemish: You have to pay for downloading most of the music. The money goes towards royalties for the industry. And Napster goes legit.

Will people return to Napster and pay for music? Especially when there are so many Napster clones out there that still let you swap for free! What is Napster thinking? Can it work a miracle?

Napster's January 10 launch of the secure subscription service will be initially beta tested with 20,000 US users. For a subscription fee, which is still undecided, members will have access to a "vast breadth of content and community features that will bring the original Napster experience", promises a company spokesperson.

Will you pay to use Napster?     Yes     No     Maybe!

According to a preview on the Napster site: "All the content available through Napster's fee-based membership service will be licensed for sharing in the Napster community. In order to give artists and rights holders choices about how their music is shared, we've created a new file format that includes a layer of security. There will be some unrestricted files in MP3 format, but when the rights holder requests it, we'll wrap their music files in a security format that defines how the file can be used."

Apart from this, only high quality files will be available over the network. Downloading music files to portable music players will also be restricted because of the secure file format called NAP.

By July 2000, when Napster was ordered to shut down file trading activities, it had attracted over 60 million users to its free and unlimited service. This time around, analysts are not too optimistic.

Independent peer-to-peer consultant Kelly Truelove feels that while the new version does have a more professional and polished look, "the technical restrictions on usage may add a layer of difficulty from the view of a user accustomed to unrestricted MP3s".

But Siddharth Ganesh, a chartered accountancy student, is not too impressed with the new look. Also, he is convinced that the subscription model is not going to work.

While Napster has retained its peer-to-peer structure, where users can trade files directly, now all music available for sharing will be checked to see if it is licensed.

Bangalore based user experience consultant Madhu Menon explains that file sharing services are popular because they offer music that is free, often difficult to find and portable from one computer to another to handy MP3 players too.

Menon points out that Napster has already lost out on portability because of the restricted NAP format. And it has lost out on the free music advantage because while it charges its customers there are others who still let you freely download.

But what about musicians and rights holders who are finally getting paid for their creation? "I guess that's fair," agrees Web designer Zereh Lalji, "but then again, I'd rather go out and buy the CD."

Techie Mahesh Parekh believes that this model is fair to both artists and users and if the offering and price is good, the new version should not be a problem.

The popularity of Napster and the void it created after its shutdown was quickly filled by software applications offering the same ease of use and availability. Besides, they were even more difficult to police. Unlike Napster, which maintains a central server for authentication, other applications like Morpheus, KaZaA and Gnutella don't require an authentication server and are more difficult to curb.

Explaining this, Menon says: "Even if the courts were to shut down Morpheus tomorrow, people who have downloaded the software can continue to trade music." Morpheus is already all over the place with millions of downloads across the Net.

Siddharth and Zereh have migrated to other file sharing software like Audiogalaxy and Mynapster, which offer similar and sometimes better services than Napster.

Siddharth feels a big disadvantage of the old Napster was the lack of the 'resume download' facility, which is supported in most other services. A Napster spokesperson, however, confirmed with Net Guide that this feature will be included in the new version along with many other interface enhancements like improved play list management and search facility.

However, all these features might not be enough to ensure success. The biggest challenge will be to convince users to pay for something that is available for free elsewhere on the Net.

Napster retorts on the site: "We know that there will always be a lot of alternatives. Ultimately, the choice will be yours, but we feel that file sharing communities that pay copyright holders and provide simple, useful tools to help you do what you want with your digital music collection are going to prevail."

While, it cannot be argued that Napster had a huge following at the peak of its popularity, many do not share this optimism.

Says Truelove, "Napster is now in the difficult position of having to compete with the free services of Morpheus, KaZaA and so on, that inherited its user base after it curtailed and then fully halted file sharing last year."

Zereh agrees: "I don't think I'd use the new Napster. If it were free, maybe, but I will not pay for it."

But Truelove voices a hope too: "A key wild card in the relaunch is the effect of its brand - will wide public familiarity with Napster as a free music service translate into a large paid subscriber base?"

A question probably even Napster cannot answer. While refusing to comment on the number of users expected to return to the service the Napster spokesperson is confident of offering users "many compelling features that they will want from a file sharing service."

Menon is less confident: "I'm not sure anything can save Napster now. It has gone from 60 million users at its peak to a couple of hundred thousand now."

Meanwhile, behind the scenes, Napster is gearing up for the release of the full service.

According to the Napster spokesperson this will be launched to the public later this quarter after they have completed licensing and settlement negotiations with major music labels. Though the battle is clearly an uphill one, Napster is obviously not willing to concede defeat just yet.



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