Napster to Fight Piracy With New Technology

In an effort to combat piracy, online music service Napster Inc. said it will use new technology that identifies songs by mapping their sound patterns. Napster announced the deal with Alexandria, Va.-based Relatable, which developed the technology. The Recording Industry Assn. of America, Napster’s main foe in a legal battle that threatens to end the swapping service, gave cautious praise to the new detection effort. Napster interim Chief Executive Hank Barry said the program “shows great promise,” but he did not say when Napster will incorporate it. Pat Breslin, Relatable’s CEO, said the tool might not make it into Napster’s current free software and might be added to the new subscription-based Napster envisioned by music publisher Bertelsmann, a Napster investor. Relatable says its TRM identification process will work regardless of the file format or quality.