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Napster Pre-Paid Cards

Posted by michael on from the collector-items dept.

G4Outcast writes "According to this CNN Money article, Napster will be offering pre-paid cards costing $14.85 at several retail locations. I guess the iTunes gift certificate and allowance idea is catching on."

2 of 221 comments (clear)

  1. Here's the problem with these paid services. by ahfoo · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I cranked up Kazaa yesterday to see what the numbers looked like. I saw 4.1 million.
    Well, back when I used to check in more frequently a few months ago I rarely saw it that high. I tried some searches and it seems it's all more or less back where it was.
    So, this shock and awe thing seems like a memory already. I mean what even happened to the first batch. As far as I can the majority settled for a few grand and then a whole bunch decided to fight. Well, where's the shock and awe in that? Obviously people are going to wait to see what happens in the courts. But in the mean time they're going to forget about it.
    It would have been one thing if it started as a hundred suits followed by a thousand and then by ten thousand. That would have done something. But this 200 every two months is not all that shocking or awe worthy.
    But of course that would also have provoked even more congressional attention. So either way they were fucked which is what evrybody said from the beginning and now it still seems to be true.

  2. Requirements by big_groo · · Score: 5, Interesting
    System Requirements PC only, Windows XP/2000, Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.01 or higher, Windows Media Player 7.1 or higher, Internet connectivity

    And check this out from the Privacy Policy:

    AUTOMATIC DATA COLLECTION

    Napster Client. After you register for the Napster service, you will be prompted to download our Napster Client software application. In order to make sure the Napster Client is functioning at its best, from time to time we may send the Napster Client automatic fixes, support files, etc. Napster employs software that is used to protect the copyrights associated with the tracks you listen to or obtain. In order to make sure that artists and copyright owners receive applicable royalties, this software identifies and counts the songs you have obtained and/or accessed. At the aggregate level (i.e., not tied to the personally identifying information of any user), we use this data to report and pay royalties, for internal analysis and we share this data with certain Partners for their own analysis. We do not share your personally identifying usage data with any third parties. We may use your personally identifying usage data for a variety of service-related purposes.

    From time to time, the security on the Napster Client software may be upgraded by our supplier, which is currently Microsoft. Microsoft advises us that for security upgrades, your player will connect to an Internet site operated by Microsoft and will be sent a security file, along with a unique identifier, which does not contain any personal information about you and is not used to personally identify you or track your activities. Microsoft uses this information to prevent security breaches that could affect you. For more information, please feel free to read Microsoft's privacy policy at http://www.microsoft.com/Windows/windowsmedia/soft ware/v7/privacy.asp#_Security_Upgrade_(Individuali zation).

    Further, when you access the service through a Partner and download the Napster Client, we will add certain of your registration information (such as your member name and, if applicable, the Partner or promotion through which you registered) to the registry settings on your computer's hard drive, so that we can recognize which of our Partners or other sign-in pages to send to you when you log on to the service.

    Microsoft?? No wonder they were less than enthusiastic about iTunes for Windows.