Napster has been permitted to temporarily resume its online song-swapping service following a federal appeals court ruling yesterday.

The district court in San Francisco had ruled a week ago that Napster had to stop its service unless it could guarantee 100% blocking of the songs that record labels identified as copyrighted.

Napster appealed, arguing that it could block more than 99% of unauthorised songs on its service with new audio technology that it is testing, but could not guarantee total success.

The federal appeals court responded by releasing a terse note yesterday saying that last week's ruling, made by Judge Marilyn Hall Patel, would be "stayed pending a further order of this court".

It then granted a temporary stay and said it would review Napster's appeal further before issuing a final order, meaning it could still uphold Patel's ruling.

The ruling from the federal appeals court does not mean that Napster can return to its old free-swapping ways. The company still has to comply with the terms of an original court order that requires it to block copyrighted songs.

The latest version of the software, which everyone subscribing to the service now must use, blocks far more songs than the ones identified by the record companies.

Napster would not comment on whether it immediately planned to restart its currently closed service. The company had taken the service down on July 1 to upgrade technology used to filter files of copyrighted music.

A spokesman said: "We're studying the implications of the decision. We continue to push ahead with the launch of our new membership service later this summer."

The Recording Industry Association of America said it expected the injunction to be back in place as soon as the appeals court had reviewed all the facts.

"The evidence in this case clearly shows that Napster has not done all it can do to police its system," Cary Sherman, the RIAA's general counsel, said in a statement.
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