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America Online (AOL) has bought Nullsoft, the developer of Winamp and SHOUTcast, for $80 million in a stock-for-stock deal. With this acquisition, AOL expects to extend its leadership through advancing in the Internet music business. Some dedicated Winamp users might fear the commercialization of Winamp through AOL, which could have a negative impact on the strong user base of many underground Mp3 users. If we take a look at the ICQ community (ICQ was bought by AOL a couple of months ago) there is not much to fear. ICQ is still available as freeware and has a constantly growing userbase. As of now, Winamp is approximately being used by 5 million users worldwide!
Justin Frankel, the Founder and President of Nullsoft comments the AOL deal: "Working with America Online will let us globally extend the use of our technologies through its Internet brands. In addition, having access to America Online's tremendous resources and infrastructure will let focus our efforts on what's really important: Making cool software."
Next to the AOL deal, lawyers for Nullsoft say the $20 million PlayMedia lawsuit concerning the Nitrane MP3-decoder was settled out of court on May 28.
Further information on the Nullsoft/AOL deal:
Mp3.com News Release
BulletinBoard comments on the deal at Mp3.com
Fortune.com "Net's Latest 20-Year-Old Multimillionaire"
Wired.com "Industry Lauds AOL Acquisitions"
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