Report: some Napster users share passwords to save money

Over the past couple of days MusicAlly has run several tests, during which we were able to download and stream simultaneously from four separate computers across two separate Internet connections for good stretches of time. Our findings so far suggest this situation is the same whether we use a trial account, a paid-for credit card account or the £14.95 Napster To Go service. By comparison, several other Internet subscription services, including Real's Rhapsody, log the first user out automatically if a second user logs in using the same username and password.

Arguably the fact that one of the subsequent users could order one of Napster's paid-for permanent downloads, thus adding a charge to the original user's card, provides a small disincentive against sharing usernames and passwords. But Napster requires users to insert their credit card security number before making a major purchase, such as the upgrade from the £9.95 service to Napster To Go. What's more, the credit card numbers themselves are not exposed on the accounts page, so there's no danger of having your card details ripped off by someone with whom you're sharing the music service.