Grokster, officially killed by Organized Music, is to do a NapsterMesh by the end of the year. That's to say it'll be disinterred and will reappear as a 'legal' p2p online music service.

Napster and iMesh were both wiped out by the OM family, Vivendi Universal, Warmer Music, EMI Group and Sony BMG but they re-surfaced under new management and now, "Grokster 3G, as the new service will be branded, is scheduled to be released as a public beta before 31 December," says The Register.

"The new software is understood to be derived from the code that Mashboxx is developing for its legal but as-yet-unlaunched P2P service.

"Indeed, confirming earlier speculation that Grokster and Mashboxx were in acquisition talks, our source claimed the two reached an agreement to combine forces in June this year - just a month before the US Supreme Court was to rule that P2P companies who promote copyright infringement could be brought to book by copyright holders."

Mashboxx which, we hear but haven't verified, has sold its assets to MashBoxx, is slated to release a beta this month, based on Shawn Fanning's Snocap verification system but, "I can't comment on any of the current rumors involving Mashboxx and any other p2p operators," Rosso told p2pnet.

Is he in touch with them? "I can confirm that we've spoken to almost all of the major players out there," he says. "Some are interested in joining forces as they see that a deal with Mashboxx is the quickest path to legitimacy. If they don't do something fast, they'll be hunted down by the recording industry and sued into oblivion."

The bottom line, says Rosso, is, "many of the current p2p guys have the mistaken idea that they can sell their companies for seven-digit numbers and walk away with a wad of cash in their jeans. Not going to happen. The record industry will take every penny. These guys are living in a dream world. And believe me, the operators care more about the money than they do about their users and the principles of the free exchange of ideas and content."

Rosso, who used to run both Grokster and Blubster, says he's now seen both sides and, "some of the p2p operators have become just as hypocritical as they've accused the music industry of being. But the smart guys, and there are a few, see the benefits of having a legit service, which spawns a business model that can hold water with investors and a roadmap to the future."

Meanwhile, "For the immediate future, Mashboxx and Grokster will remain separate brands, even though both are now run by the same company and the two clients are, to all intents and purposes, the same," says The Register.

"Grokster has the mind-share, but is tarnished by its past. Mashboxx, on the other hand, has yet to establish itself as a P2P player. Mashboxx is also in the business of providing core technology to other P2P services, and that may be how the brand is exclusively positioned in the future."

And speaking of resurrections, Napster is 'upgrading' to version 3.5, says BetaNews.

It'll be, "upping the quality of song downloads and adding personalized recommendations through a Playlist of the Day," says the story, adding, "All songs in the Napster catalog will now be available in a 192kbps bitrate rather than 128kbps ..."

Under Napster's downloan rental scheme, all music and carefully collected music libraries will vanish as soon as punters stop paying the monthly rentals for whatever reason.

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win
- Mohandas Gandhi

Tired of being treated like a criminal? They depend on you, not the other way around. Don't buy their 'product'. Do bug your local political representatives. Use emails, snail-mail, phone calls, faxes, IM, stop them in the street, blog. And if you're into organizing, organize petitions, organize demonstrations and then turn up on your local political rep's doorstep, making sure you've contacted your local tv/radio station/newspaper in advance.

See:-
The Register - Grokster to be reborn by year's end, November 9, 2005
BetaNews - Napster Upgrades Music Service to 3.5, November 9, 2005