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  <meta name="ap-online-code" content="1700"/>
  <meta name="ap-company" content="CO:Media Metrix Inc;TS:MMXI;IG:SVC;"/>
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   <urgency ed-urg="7"/>
   <date.issue norm="20000911T185842Z"/>
   <du-key key="Napster Traffic"/>
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   <hedline>
    <hl1>Use of Napster Quadruples</hl1>
   </hedline>
   <byline>By PETER SVENSSON
    <byttl>AP Business Writer</byttl>
   </byline>
   <distributor>The Associated Press</distributor>
   <dateline>
    <location>NEW YORK</location>
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    <p>Despite the uncertain legality of the Napster online music-sharing service, the number of people
using it more than quadrupled in just five months, Media Metrix said Monday.</p>
    <p>That made Napster the fastest-growing software application ever recorded by the Internet research
company.</p>
    <p>From 1.1 million home users in the United States in February, the first month Media Metrix
tracked the application, Napster use rocketed to 4.9 million users in July.</p>
    <p>That represents 6 percent of U.S. home PC users who have modems, said Media Metrix, which pays
people to install monitoring software on their computers.</p>
    <p>It estimates total usage from a panel of about 50,000 people in the United States.</p>
    <p>Napster was also used at work by 887,000 people in July, Media Metrix said.</p>
    <p>Napster Inc. has been sued by the recording industry for allegedly enabling copyright
infringement. The federal government weighed in on the case Friday, saying the service is not protected
under a key copyright law, as the San Mateo, Calif., company claims.</p>
    <p>Bruce Ryon, head of Media Metrix&apos;s New Media Group, said Napster was used by &quot;the full spectrum of PC users, not just the youth with time on their hands and a passion for music.&quot;</p>
    <p>The Napster program allows users to copy digital music files from the hard drives of other
users over the Internet.</p>
    <p>Napster Inc. said last week that 28 million people had downloaded its program. It does not reveal
its own figures for how many people actually use the software.</p>
    <p>Because the program connects to the company&apos;s computers over the Internet every time
it is run, Napster Inc. can track usage exactly.</p>
    <p>__</p>
    <p>On the Net:</p>
    <p><a href="http://www.napster.com">
http://www.napster.com</a></p>
    <p><a href="http://www.mediametrix.com">
http://www.mediametrix.com</a></p>
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