Bertelsmann Looking To Ditch Internet Properties
from the bye-bye-Napster...-yet-again dept
The company that seems to have 20 lives (almost all of which were filled with lawsuits), might finally be hitting the end of the road. Bertelsmann, under new management since forcing Thomas Middelhoff out, is reviewing all of their unprofitable operations, and has decided that they simply don’t like the internet. It’s too messy for them, it seems. So, into the trash will go properties such as Napster (which, admittedly, has just been a huge money sink for them) and the online bookstore Bol.com. At this point, clearly, there probably wasn’t much worth salvaging anyway, but it’s really too bad. Middelhoff actually had a fairly complete vision of what a modern media company could be all about – and was stopped at every turn by folks who couldn’t understand. In the long run, of course, they’ll probably be forced back into the internet world, but as followers, instead of the leaders they could have been. Update: Well, apparently, (in Napster’s case) it doesn’t matter at all, since a judge has blocked the sale of Napster to Bertelsmann anyway.
