Online music retailer Napster unveiled prepaid cards on Monday, so people–particularly teens–could download songs without using credit cards. The $14.85 card, which will offer 15 downloads, is set to go on sale in mid-November at 14,000 retail outlets. It looks like a credit card and has a scratch-off surface concealing a personal identification number to activate the card. The company …

Commentary: Facing the music By Forrester Research Special to CNET News.com October 20, 2003, 12:05PM PT By Josh Bernoff, Principal Analyst Apple Computer’s Windows music store leads its rivals in ease of use and distribution. Together with Musicmatch and Napster, it will catapult legitimate music downloads into the mainstream. Apple last week announced the Windows version of iTunes, which is …

Federal and state regulators have voiced concern that a feature in Windows XP that involves online music purchasing may violate terms of Microsoft’s antitrust settlement. The issue surfaced in a court-mandated briefing filed jointly by Microsoft and federal and state regulators. The compliance update says there are ongoing discussions over the “Shop for Music Online” feature in the operating system. …