Napster provides unlimited access to over 1.5 million songs online through their subscription service. Pay a monthly fee, and you can listen to all the songs you want, and “with Napster to Go, you can?fill and refill any compatible MP3 player with music without paying per song or album* “.
So it sounds like you can load up your iPod-like device with all the songs it can hold and listen to them all your want.? Well, not exactly, according to the foonote.
*MOUSE PRINT: “It is necessary to maintain a Napster subscription in order to continue access to songs downloaded through the Napster service.” [Website, March 23, 2006]
Translation: Unlike an audio tape onto which you have recorded music which can be played over and over forever, music transferred to smart electronic devices can in essence self-destruct if you do not continuing paying your monthly subscription fee. Â The technology is called digital rights management.
To Napster’s credit, they disclose this limitation right on their homepage. Other music subscription services bury the self-destructing nature of conditional downloads in their terms and conditions in less than clear language, if they disclose it at all.
