Napster: Stayin' Alive?

By Stephen M. Silverman

08/18/1998 at 12:00 AM EDT

Napster, the wildly popular but embattled Internet song-swapping service, is expected to spend this week fighting to stay alive. Two federal appeals judges on Friday granted the service a stay after it had been ordered to shut down at the stroke of midnight that day. The recording industry looks at Napster as the enemy for allowing its users to download music for free from the Web, but Napster CEO Hank Barry optimistically told reporters on Sunday that he expects to make peace with music biz honchos. "This is the type of case that should be settled," he said. "The 22 million people who use Napster are the music industry's best customers." The Recording Industry Association of America president Hilary Rosen, disappointed with Friday's reprieve of Napster, issued a statement saying: "We remain confident that the court will ultimately affirm once it has had an opportunity to review the facts and the law."