A US court has ruled that song-swapping service Napster can resume operations. The decision overturns a ruling last week ordering Napster to remain offline until it complied with an injunction to remove all copyrighted music.
After going offline to install software designed to prevent copyrighted material from being swapped, Napster admitted that they could not guarantee the site would be free of such music. District Court Judge Marilyn Hall Patel then ordered the site to stay offline.
The site's owner's had been taken to court by members of the recording industry, for allowing users to exchange music free of charge. Judge Patel had previously ruled that Napster's music swapping format violated US copyright laws.
But today, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals stayed the order preventing Napster from operating. In a short one-page order, the appeals court ruled that Patel's order was stayed "pending a further order of this court." However it is unclear whether Napster will ever resume its free song-swapping service, because it is preparing to launch a paid subscription service later this year.
