Private Media Group describes itself as “a worldwide leader in
premium quality adult entertainment products, services and
content.” It this week offered one million shares to Napster Inc.,
an offer which would require approval by the court controlling
Napster’s bankruptcy proceedings.
According to the company’s statement, it “plans to create a
unique peer-to-peer (P2P) environment that would offer the tens of
millions of adult consumers worldwide the opportunity to share
adult content for free as well as access top quality adult content
at a reasonable price.”
Charles Prast, President and CEO of Private Media Group
said:
"Along with Hollywood and the recording
industry, we have become increasingly concerned about the level of
copyright infringement inherent in free peer-to-peer file swapping
services. It is estimated that up to 35% of all content downloaded
from P2P sites is of an adult nature, which raises significant
issues both in terms of copyright infringement and lack of controls
of access by minors. It is an industry that presently has over 150
million users.
"At Private, we feel that there has been an
excess of spamming, credit card fraud, abuse of consumer data, and
price gouging among many on-line providers of adult content. We
intend to use the strength of the Napster trade mark to build a
community for adults to share content provided by Private and our
industry partners."
Napster’s auction memorandum anticipates the business being sold
as a going concern, with the hope that a new owner can launch its
fee-based services, albeit continuing the peer-to-peer model that
made the brand famous. There are no guarantees of licenses from any
record companies; but the memorandum does refer to Napster’s new
system being ready for launch with,
"…sophisticated software that ensures proper
file identification and digital certification of each copyright
cleared music track to prevent the unauthorised transfer of files
without proper payment via credit card."
