Shawn Fanning started Napster during his freshman year at Northeastern University with the help of his friend Sean Parker. He used his uncle's computer to type out the program for his music file sharing system. He named it "Napster" after his own nickname his friends had given him after they noticed he always had nappy hair from wearing baseball caps all the time.
Napster is a file-sharing service which allows users to trade music freely over the internet.
Where can Napster be found?
Napster.com
When was it uploaded to the internet?
May 1999
How does Napster work?
Napsters works by using a "Peer to Peer" (P2P) system. In this way, there is no central database. Files shared are shared directly between two users--peer to peer. This has been one of the key points in Napster's argument--they are just a "middle man" and do not store files in a central server. (news.com)
To start out, users must download the free Napster program from the website. Then as soon as the user logs on to Napster, they can immediately connect to anyone else in the world who is also logged on to Napster. The user can now search for songs on the other person's hard drive and download the mp3 to their own computer.
Source: Time
Source: Time
click here.
Bertelsmann is the German parent company of BMG records. They reached an agreement with the Napster company last year. They agreed to invest in Napster and in exchange Napster would become a page service.
Does Shawn Fanning still run Napster?
Yes and No. Fanning currently oversees the development half of Napster. The man in charge--the CEO--of Napster is, Hank Barry.
How popular is Napster?
Between 50 and 60 million people subscribe to Napster. According to Maclean's Magazine, Canadians use Napster the most and the United States is fifth.
Why is it so popular?
From the minute Napster was uploaded to the WWW it has seen nothing but growth in popularity. The reason for this is because a person can find virtually any song through Napster--from show tunes to popular songs.
Some people argue CDs are too expensive and Napster is much cheaper.
This is may be true, but if you take a look at the actual cost of a CD you'll find CDs are cheaper than ever.
Timeline of Events
click above to see the timeline of Napster's downfall
What's so wrong with Napster? (my opinion)
The reason Napster has been taken to court and the reason I am totally against it is because many people are stealing songs. They are downloading copyright protected songs for free, burning them on cds, and selling them to others or keeping the cds for themselves. First off, this is ILLEGAL! And secondly, the way an artist gets paid is when his/her songs are sold through record stores; if people are freely downloading the music then the artist can not make money to live off of.
