Hackers Find New Uses for Song-Swap Software

Napster Inc., whose song-swapping software loosens the record industry’s grip on the distribution of music, is now itself learning how difficult it is to control intellectual property in the Internet age.

The San Mateo, Calif., start-up developed its program to make trading music files remarkably simple. The software, available free on the Napster Web site, enables users to share songs they have, to copy songs they want and to search a gigantic database of music that often is being distributed illegally.

But some consumers have decided that they want to use Napster for other purposes, and a grass-roots effort among Internet users to hack the software is emerging.

One such hacked program, dubbed “Wrapster,” uses Napster’s computer servers to help people search and swap any sort of file--from games and movies to software and spreadsheets. Wrapster began circulating among Napster users earlier this week.

Napster executives said they aren’t pleased by the hacked version of their program, which tricks the company’s servers into helping people exchange any computer files disguised as MP3s, the commonly used digital format for trading music online.

Elizabeth Brooks, vice president of marketing for Napster, acknowledged that such acts are inherent to “the nature of the Internet. . . . For anyone who works in the Internet space, you know this is business as usual.”

Napster officials say they are considering their options.

Said Eddie Kessler, vice president of engineering at Napster, “Whether we’re going to turn a blind eye to it or actively try to disable it is something we haven’t taken a position on.”

Kessler said Napster does hold patents on some components of its technology and that it is also developing versions of the system that would enable other kinds of files to be traded.

He said the next version of Napster, for example, will be able to swap Microsoft Windows audio and video media files.

The original program--which began spreading rapidly on college campuses last fall--quickly became a major drain on campus computing resources, with students using Napster sometimes accounting for as much as 80% of the traffic on university networks.

Yet the demand for Napster-like applications is growing, fed by the public’s desire to find digital entertainment in a simple way.

Programs such as Wrapster and iMesh--a lesser-known program that, like Napster, lets people swap music, video and other multimedia files--are just a few of the imitators currently available online.

The music industry, which has filed a lawsuit against Napster, contends such programs erode copyright protections on the Net. Advocates insist there are numerous legitimate uses for such technology.

“I’m getting calls from professors who want to use a Napster-like technology to swap and search for multimedia files,” said Mark Bruhn, technology policy officer at Indiana University, which barred use of the software last month. “This is not about music piracy. This is about understanding what the technology can do.”

The school’s technical staff recently worked with Napster to develop changes that would alter the way the program searches for music files to become less burdensome on the campus network.

Napster aims to reduce that burden by routing song requests and transfers along less cluttered avenues of the Net. Much of Napster’s college traffic will now be transmitted primarily via Internet 2, a high-capacity network that links most major universities in the country.

Only when such a search fails would a student at a college linked to Internet 2 be directed to computers on the more congested public Internet.

Napster executives said they weren’t sure how much data traffic would be reduced by the software changes, but said it will be significant enough that they expect the dozens of universities that have banned the service to reconsider.

Napster programmers said they also plan a second modification that would keep more student traffic inside their own campus networks, reducing the amount of Napster traffic flooding into other campuses.

Indiana University has agreed to restore Napster access starting Saturday for a two-week trial.