Court Says 'No' to Free Napster Revival

A federal appeals court this week rejected Napster's final effort to bring back its free song-swapping service, which it was forced to close in July until the company removed all copyrighted material. "The shutdown order was a proper exercise of the District Court's power to enforce compliance with the modified preliminary injunction," a three-judge panel said in its ruling.

"We affirm both the modified preliminary injunction and the shutdown order. The terms of the modified preliminary injunction are not vague and properly reflect the relevant law on vicarious and copyright infringement," the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco said.

Napster has been trying to return to life in the form of a legit paid subscription service, but a beta test earlier this year was a flop among users and the company has yet to license any music from major record labels is it had planned. New beta releases, which were once frequent during the test, ceased on February 1.