Napster CEO steps down; cost-cutting continues

SAN FRANCISCO - Napster&#39;s chief executive has resigned after founders of the troubled song-swap company refused to be bought out by the German media conglomerate Bertelsmann. <br> <br> The resignation of Konrad Hilbers comes amid a long hiatus for Napster, which has vowed to come back online as a subscription-based music download service. <br> <br> Further cost-cutting moves have also been announced. <br> <br> A source close to the company says Napster is rapidly running out of cash and may soon file for bankruptcy protection. <br> <br> Napster has been offline since last summer, after it failed to meet guidelines handed down by a federal judge requiring it to keep all copyright music from being freely traded over its network. <br> <br> Since Napster&#39;s service went dark last year, the five major record labels suing Napster all have launched subscription services in response to the demand for music downloads that Napster created.

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