For anyone who follows the anti-consumer, anti-artist and anti-retail stance of the five major record labels, issues discussed in this NY Times article Record Companies on the Defensive (requires registration to read) come as no surprise:
“According to transcripts made public today, the judge in the case said on Jan. 16 that she intended to grant a request by Napster to explore whether the record companies might have colluded to prevent Napster and other online music competitors from licensing music to sell on the Internet. The judge, Marilyn Patel of the Federal District Court in Northern California, also said she would allow Napster to explore whether the record companies might not control all the copyrights they claimed to own. ”