jmarc63
New Member
As of tonight the Dead Kitty comment is gone all that is left is a watermark image of the kitty logo, With the comment the there that says "Work in Progress" and a t-shirt logo in the lower left corner whish if you click on is a sale site for shirts with the napster logo.
Also here is more information on the Bertlesman deal
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Napster Sale Blocked
SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 3, 2002
(AP)
(AP) A Delaware bankruptcy judge has blocked the sale of former song-swap leader Napster to its chief financial investor, Bertelsmann AG, marking the death of a deal that might have revived the service as a legitimate music-sharing network.
Judge Peter J. Walsh made the ruling Tuesday in Wilmington, Del., according to spokeswomen for both Bertelsmann and Napster. Walsh cited conflicting loyalties by Napster's top executive as the reason for killing the deal.
Bertelsmann had sought to purchase the remains of the defunct Napster network for an additional $8 million after having already sunk $85 million into the Redwood City-based company to keep it afloat. Napster has been off line for more than a year.
Suits by several major record labels effectively destroyed Napster. Those record companies also filed motions in the bankruptcy case, vigorously objecting to the sale of the company to Bertelsmann.
A&M Records, Geffen Records, Interscope Records and other labels objected to the proposed Bertelsmann buyout, citing a reticence on the German media giant's part to turn over documents related to the loans and relationships between Napster and Bertelsmann.
Napster CEO Konrad Hilbers, a Bertelsmann veteran, said the judge's decision likely will force Napster to change its reorganization effort into a Chapter 7 liquidation.
"Napster is disappointed with the bankruptcy court's decision not to approve the sale of the company's assets to Bertelsmann. As a result of the record companies' and music publishers' opposition, Napster's creditors will be denied substantial repayment and the company will likely be forced into Chapter 7 liquidation," Hilbers said in a statement.
"As with most start-up technology businesses, Napster's technology is of little value without the talented team that created it, so it is an occasion of loss on many levels."
Hilbers' divided allegiance between Napster and Bertelsmann drew scrutiny from Walsh as he looked at the proposed sale. The judge said he wanted to hear from someone who was in on negotiations, especially Hilbers. But Hilbers never took the stand and did not attend hearings on the bankruptcy matter.
The record companies objecting to the sale questioned Bertelsmann's financing of an operation deemed to violate copyright infringement by U.S. District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel in California.
"The $72.5 million in funding provided by Bertelsmann to Napster was advanced, in each case, in a lump sum and without any procedures put in place to ensure that it would not be used to run Napster's illegal copyright infringement business," the record labels said in a recent court filing.
Napster's song swap servers have been down since July 2001, after a series of punishing rulings by Patel that Napster comply with her order to completely rid its network of unauthorized copyright recordings.
Bertelsmann issued a short statement Tuesday, acknowledging it would not succeed in its purchase of the vanguard technology company that changed the way millions of computer users acquired and listened to music.
"We accept the court's decision that the sale of Napster's assets to Bertelsmann has been denied and that the purchase process will not proceed," Bertelsmann said.
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