Napster's back after developing sympathy for the Devil

Online music service Napster will be resurrected today after agreeing a deal with the major record labels it once regarded as the great Satan.

Napster, in conjunction with five major record labels in the United States, will offer a subscription-based online music service two years after it was shut down by US courts because of repeated copyright infringement.

Back in 1999 when it was first shut down after coming under pressure from recording industry heavies, Napster, which brought free music to millions of people, had the playing field all to itself. Today, however, it faces several competitors who survived and continue to offer MP3s to users for free.

Critics are sceptical of the new-look Napster and say the new service will offer only a limited selection of music. "I don't think people are going to respond to it," said Mr Nicholas Reville, co-founder of Downhill Battle, a Massachusetts company pushing for fairness for musicians and fans. "The only reason Napster was cool was because it was free."

Napster faces a host of legitimate competitors, including RealNetwork's Rhapsody service, Apple's iTunes and Buy.com. It must also compete with other free services including Winmx, Kazaa, Morpheus and Grokster.

Mr Wayne Rosso, president of Grokster, said: "Consumers want unmetered, untethered MP3 access. They want to be able to own and do what they want with it. Until the record industry starts to get that message after all this blood-letting, I think that the [subscription] online market isn't going to fully flourish."

Napster will reveal more details of its service such as pricing later today.

Additional reporting AP