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Article: The enemy of my enemy is my friend.(Napster and Bertelsmann AG)(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- U.S. News & World Report
- Article date:
- November 13, 2000
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2000 All rights reserved. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Just three months ago, the music industry was mocking Napster. The company's chief, Hank Barry, had just told 300 industry executives at a conference that the free-music service was little more than a dorm-room taping session on steroids. The execs were not amused--so they laughed at him. "I'm concerned," the moderator said to Barry, "that if I let you call a friend there wouldn't be one."
Napster has a big friend now. German media giant Bertelsmann, the parent of BMG Records, plans to lend Napster millions and team with the company to develop a new digital-music distribution system. Most other big record companies, rather than slam the deal, pronounced it ...