When Napster shut down in July 2001, remember how loudly the recording industry cheered? After working long and hard to defeat Enemy No. 1, the music moguls celebrated their victory over the renegade download Web site. Funny how the wheel turns. Three years later, the music industry is looking to digital downloading to help it end a years-long slump. At …

Apple Computer has become the latest in a line of companies licensing patents from the relatively obscure E-Data, a company that claims to hold property rights on the process of selling music online. E-Data said Wednesday that it had reached a European agreement with Apple that gave the company worldwide rights for its iTunes Music Store. It has now launched …

Just hours after eBay announced its new music download site, a handful of songs popped up for sale–a sure sign of intense interest in the company’s plans to take on iTunes and others. It was the wrong sign. The files had been posted by people who were not authorized to sell music in the six-month test and were quickly removed. …