With his company facing a rash of speculation about its future, Napster CEO Chris Gorog went on the offensive yesterday, saying Microsoft's inability to compete with Apple's iPod/iTunes combo to date has made it difficult for the Napster subscription service to thrive.

According to Reuters, Gorog told attendees at the Reuters Global Technology, Media and Telecoms Summit in New York that "there is no question that [Microsoft's] execution has been less than brilliant over the last 12 months. Our business does rely on Microsoft's digital rights management (DRM) software, and our business model also relies on Microsoft's ecosystem of device manufacturers."

While Apple's iTunes store and iPod line of portable players use the AAC format and Apple's FairPlay DRM, a number of digital music services, including Napster, Rhapsody, Yahoo Music Unlimited, and MSN Music, use Microsoft's Plays For Sure DRM and Windows Media file format.

"It's a lot more complex to get organized properly than it is to build one device and one service as Apple has done," Gorog said. "It's always been painful at the introduction of new technologies. But it always takes shape like it's done in the past."

To date, none of the major MP3 player makers--Creative, SanDisk, Sony, iRiver, and Samsung--have had even close to the traction with consumers that the iPod has.

Rumors have swirled in recent weeks that Microsoft has grown impatient with its partners' ability to come up with an iPod competitor and intends to take on the iPod itself with a do-it-all device with the pet name Origami.

Gorog said he is confident that Microsoft will get its act together. "Ultimately, the consumer electronics giants...are all going to come to this Windows Media party," he said. "This is really going to be the ubiquitous format."

Gorog himself urged investors and industry watchers to view the digital music landscape not as a sprint but as a marathon that would be far different "in the next 12 to 24 months."

"A lot of people following this story in the media and investors...are really focusing on the tree and are not stepping back and looking at the forest," he said. "To date, only 5 percent of [music] sales have migrated digitally. We are in the very, very early days of this."

As for his own company's fortunes--Napster reported a widening loss of $17.1 million last month--Gorog said he has not sought to sell the company. Speculation surrounded Google's potential interest in buying the company last month.

"We have not ever sought any sale of our business," he said. "But we have received many inquiries from around the world, and I think we will continue to receive many inquiries. We will do a deal if and when we feel it's in our shareholders' interests."