HAMBURG — Bertelsmann AG is planning to launch this summer a new peer-to-peer download service, dubbed GNAB. The Gütersloh, Germany-based firm’s services and technology division, Arvato Mobile, has developed the new platform to enable users to share music, movies and games files.
GNAB will initially be shopped to mail order companies, mobile phone operators, Internet service providers and media firms.
Helmed by chairman/CEO Hartmut Ostrowski, Arvato currently operates in 13 markets.
Bertelsmann first entered the P2P space when it bought the now defunct Napster in 2000. The media giant pumped millions of dollars into the service in the face of numerous copyright infringement lawsuits from the recorded music industry. By mid-2001, the original Napster was forced to shut down, filing for bankruptcy protection in 2002.
