Recording industry to send Napster 135,000 song names

The recording industry is to send a list of 135,000 copyright songs to Napster, giving the file–swapping company until Wednesday to block their free exchange on the online service.

The Recording Industry Association of America planned to send the list to Napster electronically some time this morning (NZDT), said spokeswoman Amy Weiss.

Napster then would have three business days to block the songs, according to an injunction published Tuesday earlier this week by U.S. District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel.

The injunction was issued based on a suit by record companies, who are seeking to shut Napster down for facilitating copyright infringement.

The list, compiled from music owned by the big five record labels, arranges the songs by artist name, song title and album name. Also included are names under which the songs are stored.

The RIAA would not speculate on what action it would take if Napster was not able to effectively block the material from its service.

One option would be to request a hearing before Patel and tell her that Napster had not complied to its satisfaction, at which point the judge could appoint an independent third party to serve as a technical expert and assist the court with any disputes, according to the injunction.

In a Web posting to its more than 60 million users, Napster said it has received some notices and expects the record companies to send more.

- INDEPENDENT