AOL developed the search engine one month ago and posted it on the Web sitefor Winamp, a Web-based MP3 player developed by AOL subsidiary Nullsoft. The feature presented links to sites that let people download MP3 files, regardless of whether the files required payment or were illegally copied.
Since the search engine was unable to draw a line between legal and illegalfiles, AOL decided to drop the service.
"We're taking it down because we don't have an efficient process indistinguishing between legal and illegal MP3s," AOL spokesman JimWhitney said.
The scrapping of the feature could mark another culture clash between newand traditional media, analysts say. AOL is in the process of acquiringmedia giant Time Warner, which also runs several record labels under itsWarner Music Group. Now that the companies are merging, AOL must walk afine line when developing new Internet services to ensure theydon't threaten Time Warner's existing businesses.
Eric Scheirer, an analyst at ForresterResearch, speculated that AOL's move could be a goodwill gesture to therecord companies. Increasingly, Web companies and record labels are warming to each other inhopes of signing deals in the future. Portals want to use the labels' songlibraries, while the labels want extensive, legal distribution of theirsongs on the Web.
AOL has taken other steps to play nice with the recording industry. This spring, thecompany pulled its peer-to-peer file-swapping software project,Gnutella. The service was developed by programmers at Nullsoft, which created Winamp. Like the controversial Napster, which is being sued by therecording industry, Gnutella allows people to search and trade songs inMP3 and other files.
But before AOL's decision to remove Gnutella, a beta version had already leaked online. Several programmers found the software and then distributed its source code--the software's blueprint--on the Net. Many developers havealready begun adapting Gnutella for applications other than MP3 searches.
AOL is not alone in developing a search engine devoted to MP3 files. Lastyear, Web portal Lycos launched its own MP3 search engine in partnershipwith Norwegian tech firm Fast. The search engine has become a popularfeature on Lycos Music but has raisedwarning flags from the record industry.
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has threatened to sue Lycos for its MP3search engine. The RIAA has taken legal action against MP3Board,another a MP3 search engine, for copyright infringement. MP3Board attorneyshave argued that the service provides links to other sites and thatit's these sites that should be held responsible for posting pirated song files.
For AOL, a service similar to MP3Board could draw legal attention from theRIAA. But Forrester's Scheirer remains skeptical that AOL's decision to pull its MP3 search engine was based on fears of legal ramifications.
"The idea that AOL would be more conservative and more fearful than Lycosdoesn't make sense," he said.