Appeals Court Panel to Hear Napster Arguments in October

A federal appeals court said Tuesday that it will hear oral arguments in the Napster Inc. case the first week of October.

The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said a three-judge panel will hear the case sometime between Oct. 2 and Oct. 6 in San Francisco.

The court, which in the last year has issued rulings in favor of technology despite concerns about copyright infringement, national security and Internet monopolies, is hearing the recording industry’s case against the Internet site that acts as a gateway for millions of online surfers to exchange and record copyrighted music.

The recording industry wants Napster shut down, alleging it is contributing to widespread copyright infringement.

Napster maintains it is just providing a service for users to share music, some of which is not copyrighted.

The 9th Circuit temporarily halted a federal judge’s July order shutting down Napster.

The court’s announcement Tuesday came as various groups filed friend-of-the-court briefs urging the 26-judge court to allow Napster to continue its music-swapping service.

One of the largest trade groups to submit papers is the Consumer Electronics Assn., which represents 600 members, including America Online, Apple Computer, Intel and Microsoft. The group contends U.S. District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel misapplied copyright law that protects technologies with “substantial non-infringing uses.” If her decision is used as precedent for other cases, it could threaten development across the consumer technology sector, the group said.

The association and others are concerned about Patel’s rejection of Napster’s defense that compared its software with videocassette recorders. Like VCRs--which the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled are legal despite being able to copy protected movies--Napster also is capable of numerous legitimate uses, the groups said.