Music-swapping software firm Napster is getting a small taste of its own medicine. Pop-punk band The Offspring, one of the few major-label acts to have publicly defended the controversial company, is offering Napster merchandise such as T-shirts and hats for sale on its Web site. Trouble is, Napster never gave the band permission--and one doesn't have to look far to see the irony as Napster fans continue to use the company's software to download pirated copies of songs. Napster representatives aren't commenting on the band's action, other than to say the firm doesn't sell any of its own merchandise. But the move puts the small company in yet another uncomfortable legal bind. If it files a lawsuit, or even a cease-and-desist demand that The Offspring take the material down, the company will risk being painted a hypocrite by its opponents. But if it does nothing, the company could lose the future right to protect its name and logo from other, more serious imitators.