NAPSTER BREATHES AGAIN

Roxio is close to sealing a deal to purchase Pressplay, the Vivendi Universal-Sony online subscription joint venture.

Roxio plans to make Pressplay the basis for a new service that would operate under the name of the defunct file-swapper Napster, which Roxio bought at auction less than a year ago.

The proposed transaction, which was being finalized over the weekend, would be a complicated one initially, valued at $30 million or more in stock and cash, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Roxio paid $5 million in November to acquire the name and intellectual property of Napster.

Ironically, if the deal is finalized, the labels will wind up as shareholders in a new service that bears the Napster name—a name the labels furiously fought to close Napster down.

What's more, the labels may find themselves working with Napster founder Shawn Fanning, who earlier this year was hired by Roxio as a consultant, the Wall Street Journal points out.