Napster drops Interim CEO Barry

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Napster is replacing its leader with an executive from its German backer, who will try to steer the company out of its renegade past into a legitimate service that requires fans to pay for music. Interim CEO Hank Barry, a lawyer who came to Napster from a venture capital firm, will remain with the company in a reduced role, serving on Napster's board of directors. His replacement is Konrad Hilbers, a veteran of the German media giant Bertelsmann AG, which became the song-swapping company's primary financial backer last October.
Hilbers inherits a company mired in controversy, looking to resolve copyright infringement lawsuits brought by major record labels. It plans to convert to a subscription music download service. Napster's song-trading network has been offline since July 2, when its effort to make a quick fix and strengthen its ability to filter out copyright music turned into extended downtime.