The judges of the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco has to decide whether to uphold a lower court’s order issued in July when Napster was said to be guilty of “wholesale” copyright infringement. The order has been suspended until now, but if imposed by the appeals court, it would in effect stop Napster from facilitating the exchange of most MP3 music files. The order could only then be lifted if Napster ultimately wins its case on the question of copyright infringement which may not be resolved this year.
Whichever party loses the case at this stage is expected to attempt to appeal the decision to the US Supreme Court.
On its web site, Napster alerts users to the imminent decision, adding, “We have great confidence in our legal position.” Uncertainty over the future of the service fuelled a surge in use of the service over the weekend which now has in excess of 50 million registered usernames.
The appeals court website will publish its opinion.