STUDY FINDS NAPSTER USERS DOWN BY 3 MILLION

According to a study released Thursday (4/26), online swappery Napster has lost about 20% of its users since the 9^th Circuit Court of Appeals ordered it to bar the trade of copyrighted songs on the service.

According to tech research firm Jupiter Media Metrix, 12 million people used the Napster application in March, a drop of 3 million in only one month.

The five major record labels first sued Napster in December 1999, claiming it facilitated copyright piracy that cost them billions of dollars in lost music sales. The labels successfully argued for a court-ordered injunction, issued March 5, that requires Napster to block the trading of copyrighted songs on its service. Since that time, Napster has been employing various filtering technologies to screen out copyrighted songs earmarked by the labels.

Despite this news, Jupiter Media found that Napster still remains one of the most popular destinations on the Internet. According to Jupiter’s research, an increasing amount of people are logging onto Napster and deciding not to trade music—which is a little like going to Ralph’s and just looking at all the yummy food.

The firm also reported a sharp jump in activity at sites that offer file-sharing software like BearShare and Aimster. Napster is awaiting a response to a request for a federal appeals court rehearing in the landmark case.