It's all but official: Napster is gone. Of course, it's been gone in spirit for some time now, but the recent blocking of the sale of Napster to Bertelsmann pretty much ends any chance of resurrection. As most people know, only a couple of years ago, Napster revolutionized the way that music was experienced, discovered, and shared. Although this technology can be (and was) abused, that cannot be totally avoided no matter what the situation might be. I personally downloaded my share of music files, but I can honestly say that I was introduced to many artists I would have never have heard of otherwise and did in fact by more CDs as a result. I'm not convinced that Napster could ever return in a form that appealed as widely as the original did, but I really hope that the industry will eventually get smart enough to embrace technology rather than hinder it.