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Clickshare Exec says Bertelsmann-Napster Deal Validates Clickshare Model of Sharing Users and Content; Keeping Purchasing Accessible, Anonymous and Driven by Relationships, not Products
CLICKSHARE MODEL OF SHARING USERS AND CONTENT; KEEPING PURCHASING ACCESSIBLE,
ANONYMOUS AND DRIVEN BY RELATIONSHIPS, NOT PRODUCTS
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. -- Oct. 31, 2000 -- Clickshare Service Corp. today applauded
the move by Bertelsmann AG to embrace the Napster file-sharing protocol, and
said the move ushers in the next phase of Internet development -- getting paid
for selling information.
"People have been supporting art and artists since the dawn of
civilization," says Nell Fields, president of Clickshare. "But nothing
on the Internet has made that easy. As a result, everyone lost -- the fans,
musicians, even the record labels."
"Art and music bring people together. The sharing of music has to stay
easy, it has to be anonymous, and it has to foster relationships. Until
Clickshare, there has been no way to make that happen."
"It's not about the music as an end product. It's about the people who
listen to the music. And about letting them access, appreciate and share it
freely with their friends and family. Make those connections, and you make a
marketplace. Make a marketplace, and commerce happens. Clickshare makes the
marketplace happen."
Napster and Bertelsmann have announced a strategic alliance to transform Napster
into a membership-based service for downloading and exchanging digital goods
such as books, music, and video products.
Napster has been enabling the swapping of music files, but without paying the
owners of the music. Some performers see Napster as a way to promote themselves,
and embrace it; but large music publishers such as BMG have fought Napster as a
tool for grand larceny of intellectual property.
In Clickshare's customer exchange network, buyers and sellers of digital goods
can easily, securely, and privately purchase music or other dowjloadable
products with a single click. With Clickshare's service, content owners protect
themselves while satiating customer's hunger for the latest song or book, and
customers have a secure, private way to make the purchase.
Napster has become a phenomenon, garnering 38 million users of its file-sharing
technology that allows individual consumers to take digital copies of songs from
their hard drives and send them back and forth. But the picture has included no
form of payment.
"Until today, publishers, music companies, writers and other creators of
intellectual property were in danger of losing their livelihood," said
Fields. "Legal confrontation is a road to nowhere. Instead of denying
technology, two of the key players who represent consumers and creators are
embracing it."
Bertelsmann, a global media company and owner of BMG Music, had been involved in
one such copyright infringement suit with Napster. Fields said,
"Bertelsmann has essentially told the 19-year-old creator of Napster:
`You're clever. Now let's figure out how to make money on this'."
The evolution of Napster to a member-based service will unleash the promise of
digital commerce, explained Fields. "Without paying the owners of
intellectual property, the value and the validity of every file exchange could
be questioned. This is more than a truce; it's a milestone for the e-commerce
community."
About Clickshare Service Corporation
Clickshare provides an infrastructure for anonymously sharing customers on the
Internet, facilitating one-click exchanging of digital content among content
owners and other infomediaries. The Clickshare service includes payment
aggregation, audience measurement, site-access control, personalization and
privacy-protected demographic management.
It provides portals and other proprietors that have built-in customer bases,
such as ISPs, wireless carriers, banks, and affinity groups with a way to
strengthen and monetize their bond with customers.
Clickshare offers consumers a way to have an account at one web site, yet buy
content from many other websites -- without having to pass around a credit card
number, fill out forms or give up personal information. The service is available
on virtually any device with access to the Internet: desktop or portable
computer, wireless devices and PDAs.
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