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It's got to be tough when a company who prides itself on successful technology has to worry about peripheral matters -- like constant litigation. Yet that is exactly what Napster Inc. must do.

With an August 9 deadline to file a plea that would give the music file-sharing firm the opportunity to come back online rapidly approaching, Napster, who saw its business shuttered since July 2 for failing to filter all of the tracks it was asked to, is preparing to launch the new version of its software. Registered Napster users have been sent a peppy e-mail, trumpeting new features and other niceties.

Nothing eyebrow-raising there, right? Well, in addition to a link to the new Napster beta, the firm also pledges in its "official release", that:

"Over half of what you pay Napster will go directly to the artists, songwriters and other rights holders whose works are transferred between members of the Napster community," Napster said in an e-mail. "This has generated interest from a number of artists who previously were uncomfortable having their music shared over Napster or other file-sharing services."

All of which is a blasé way of saying Napster has earned artists' trust.

So Napster then, is sticking to its word, and after settling with Metallica and Dr. Dre last week it appears no one left exists whose ire may be raised. The beta is free and the new membership service will cost a small monthly fee, which analysts have speculated would be $5 to $10 per month. Moreover, word on the street is that Napster may solidify secure digital music delivery with the help of Playmedia Systems, which this week said it was working with the file-swapping outfit to create .nap files for secure music playback.

The question remains then: will the fans like it? Compared to the old interface, the new beta looks like a regular portal, which is how businesses seem to want to go about hooking new members. The beta screenshot has a picture of the Dave Matthews Band under the enticing, "Discover New Music" header -- the page is like a visual Virgin Records store where music lovers may sample new sounds. There also appears to be reviews and interviews, akin to other sites such as Billboard.com.

If there is an overwhelmingly positive aspect of Napster's situation it's that at least people know what to expect when the service becomes viable again, courtesy of the beta; the world is still waiting to see what MusicNet and pressplay, with the clout and music catalogs of the Big 5 behind them, will bring to the table in August.

Napster is encouraging "feedback on our new features, the ease of use, and of course, identifying the inevitable bugs."