Napster blocks names in copyright case

MP3 music swapping service Napster has confirmed that it has blocked 317,377 user screen names that have been identified by rock band Metallica as allegedly infringing on the band's copyrights, and has put some teeth in its software to make sure they stay out.

Last week, the band delivered legal documents identifying user names of people who allegedly made Metallica songs available online, and demanded that they be prevented from accessing the Napster service.

"Napster has taken extraordinary steps to comply with Metallica's demands to block hundreds of thousands of its fans from using the Napster system," said a statement from Lawrence Pulgram, the attorney who represents Napster. "Napster has always stated that it would act in response to notice from copyright holders, and it has lived up to that commitment in good faith."

Napster has also altered its software to make sure the ban holds. Under earlier versions, music fans could simply reinstall the program and log on under a different name. But the company has added a feature that can tell whether a potential Napster user has previously been blocked.

But this is not the end of the story for Napster. In Los Angeles, attorney Howard King, who represents both Metallica and rap artist Dr Dre, said that Napster is now being put under pressure to block music fans who are pirating the latter's tracks. A further list will be lodged with the Napster next week.

Metallica used UK copyright protection company NetPD to find the many thousands of music fans who the band believes is pirating its music.

Napster is convinced, however, that some users may have been mistakenly identified as pirates. In a message posted on its website it said: "Because of the methods employed by Metallica in assembling its list of user names, it is possible that users have been mistakenly implicated as infringing the copyrights of songs and recordings originally included on commercially released Metallica albums."