Napster was an online music file sharing service created by Shawn Fanning and operating between June 1999 ^[1] and July 2001 while he was attending Northeastern University in Boston. It was the first widely-used peer-to-peer sharing service, and it made a major impact on how people, especially university students, used the Internet. Its technology allowed music fans to easily share MP3 format song files with each other, thus leading to the music industry's accusations of massive copyright violations. Although the original service was shut down by court order, it paved the way for decentralized peer-to-peer file-sharing programs, which have been much harder to control. The service was named Napster after Fanning's nickname. Roxio is a division and brand of Sonic Solutions. ... Napster, LLC (NASDAQ: NAPS, formerly Roxio, Inc. ... File sharing is the practice of making files available for other users to download over the Internet and smaller networks. ... Shawn Napster Fanning (born November 22, 1980, Brockton, Massachusetts[1]), is a computer programmer. ... For the community in Florida, see University, Florida. ... For other uses, see MP3 (disambiguation). ... Copyright infringement is the unauthorized use of copyrighted material in a manner that violates one of the copyright owners exclusive rights, such as the right to reproduce or perform the copyrighted work, or to make derivative works that build upon it. ...

Napster's brand and logo continue to be used by a pay service. Napster, LLC (NASDAQ: NAPS, formerly Roxio, Inc. ...

Origins

Napster 2.0 Beta 7's file transfer screen during Napster's heyday. Note the Search, Library and Transfer buttons, prototypical of the many peer-to-peer systems to follow.

This article or section is missing citations or needs footnotes. Using inline citations helps guard against copyright violations and factual inaccuracies. (April 2008)

Shawn Fanning along with two friends he'd met online, Jordan Ritter, a fellow Bostonian, and Sean Parker, from Virginia, first released the original Napster in June of 1999.^[2] Fanning wanted an easier method of finding music than by searching IRC or Lycos. John Fanning of Hull, Massachusetts, who is Shawn's uncle ran all aspects of the company's operations for the first year from their office on Nantasket beach. The final agreement gave Shawn 30% control of the company, with the rest going to his uncle. It was the first of the massively popular peer-to-peer file sharing systems, although it was not fully peer-to-peer since it used central servers to maintain lists of connected systems and the files they provided, while actual transactions were conducted directly between machines. This is very similar to how instant messaging systems work. Although there were already media which facilitated the sharing of files across the Internet, such as IRC, Hotline, and USENET, Napster specialized exclusively in music in the form of MP3 files and presented a friendly user-interface. The result was a system whose popularity generated an enormous selection of music to download. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1024x744, 24 KB) Screenshot taken sometime in 2001 (shortly after Metallica ban caused a username change) of Napster V2. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1024x744, 24 KB) Screenshot taken sometime in 2001 (shortly after Metallica ban caused a username change) of Napster V2. ... Shawn Napster Fanning (born November 22, 1980, Brockton, Massachusetts[1]), is a computer programmer. ... Events of 2008: (EMILY) Me Lesley and MIley are going to China! This article is about the year. ... This article is about Internet Relay Chat. ... Lycos is an Internet search engine and web portal. ... Hull is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. ... // Instant messaging (IM) is a form of real-time communication between two or more people based on typed text. ... Hotline Communications Limited (HCL) was a software company founded in 1997 based in Toronto, Canada, with employees also in the United States and Australia. ... Usenet (USEr NETwork) is a global, decentralized, distributed Internet discussion system that evolved from a general purpose UUCP architecture of the same name. ...

Although the recording industry denounced music sharing as equivalent to theft, many Napster users felt justified^{[citation needed]} in using the service for a number of reasons. Many believed that the quality of new albums had decreased by the mid-1990s, with the typical bestselling album containing only one or two good songs bundled with many low-quality "filler" songs^{[citation needed]}. People praised Napster because it enabled them to obtain hit songs without having to buy an entire album^{[citation needed]}. Napster also made it relatively easy for music enthusiasts to download copies of songs that were otherwise difficult to obtain, like older songs, unreleased recordings, and songs from concert bootleg recordings. Some users felt justified^{[citation needed]} in downloading digital copies of recordings they had already purchased in other formats, like LP and cassette tape, before the compact disc emerged as the dominant format for music recordings. For other uses, see Bootleg. ... A 12-inch record (left), a 7-inch record (right), and a CD (above) Two 7 singles (left), two colored 7 singles (middle), and two 7 singles with large spindle holes (right). ... For the meaning of cassette in genetics, see cassette (genetics). ... CD redirects here. ...

Irrespective of these justifications, many other users simply enjoyed trading and downloading music for free. With the files obtained through Napster, people frequently made their own compilation albums on recordable CDs, without paying any royalties to the artist/composer or the estate of the artist/composer. High-speed networks in college dormitories became overloaded^{[citation needed]}, with as much as 80% of external network traffic consisting of MP3 file transfers. Many colleges blocked its use for this reason^{[citation needed]}, even before concerns about liability for facilitating copyright violations on campus. A CD-R (Compact Disc-Recordable) is a thin (1. ...

The service and software program were initially Windows-only, but in 2000 Black Hole Media wrote a Macintosh client called Macster. Macster was later bought and designated the official Mac Napster client, at which point the Macster name was discontinued.^[3]

Legal challenges

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Napster peaked in February 2001

Heavy metal band Metallica discovered that a demo of their song ‘I Disappear’ had been circulating across the Napster network, even before it was released. This eventually led to the song being played on several radio stations across America and brought to Metallica’s attention that their entire back catalogue of studio material was also available. The band responded in 2000 by filing a lawsuit against the service offered by Napster. A month later, rapper Dr. Dre shared a litigator and legal firm with Metallica, and filed a similar lawsuit after Napster wouldn't remove his works from their service, even after he issued a written request. Separately, both Metallica and Dr. Dre later delivered thousands of usernames to Napster who they believed were pirating their songs. One year later, Napster settled both suits, but this came after being shut down by the Ninth Circuit Court in a separate lawsuit from several major record labels (see below). Also in 2000, Madonna, who had previously met with Napster executives to discuss a possible partnership, became irate when her single "Music" leaked out on to the web and Napster prior to its commercial release, causing widespread media coverage.^[4] Verified Napster use peaked with 26.4 million users worldwide in February 2001.^[5] Image File history File links Question_book-3. ... Image File history File links Napster_Unique_Users. ... Image File history File links Napster_Unique_Users. ... Metallica is a Grammy Award-winning American heavy metal/thrash metal band formed in 1981[1] and has become one of the most commercially successful musical acts of recent decades. ... This article is about the Metallica song. ... For the New York radio and television presenter, see Doctor Dre. ... This article is about the American entertainer. ... A collection of various CD singles In music, a single is a short recording of one or more separate tracks. ... Madonna Music Video chronology The Madonna Collection (2000) Music (2000) The Ultimate Collection (2000) Music is the first single by American singer-songwriter Madonna from her 8th studio album Music and was released on August 21, 2000 by Maverick Records. ... 2001 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December Events: February - Iraq disarmament crisis: British and U.S. forces carry out bombing raids attempting to disable Iraqs air defense network. ...

In 2000, A&M records and several other recording companies sued Napster (A&M Records, Inc. v. Napster, Inc.) for contributory and vicarious copyright infringement under the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMC Act).^[6] The music industry made the following claims against Napster: Holding --- Court membership Case opinions Laws applied --- A&M Records, Inc. ... The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is a United States copyright law which implements two 1996 WIPO treaties. ...

(1) That its users were directly infringing the plaintiff's copyright; (2) That Napster was liable for contributory infringement of the plaintiff's copyright; and (3) That Napster was liable for vicarious infringement of the plaintiff's copyright.

The court found Napster guilty on all three claims. ^[7]

Napster lost the case in the District Court and appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Although the Ninth Circuit found that Napster was capable of commercially significant non-infringing uses, it affirmed the District Court's decision. On remand, the District Court ordered Napster to monitor the activities of its network and to block access to infringing material when notified of that material's location. Napster was unable to do this, and so shut down its service in July 2001. Napster finally declared itself bankrupt in 2002 and sold its assets. It had already been offline since the previous year owing to the effect of the court rulings. ^[8]

Promotional power

Along with the accusations that Napster was hurting the sales of the record industry, there were those who felt just the opposite, that file trading on Napster actually stimulated, rather than hurt, sales. Proof may have come in July 2000 when tracks from English rock band Radiohead's album Kid A found their way to Napster three months before the CD's release. Unlike Madonna, Dr. Dre or Metallica, Radiohead had never hit the top 20 in the US. Furthermore, Kid A was an experimental album without any singles, and received relatively little radio airplay. By the time of the record's release, the album was estimated to have been downloaded for free by millions of people worldwide, and in October 2000 Kid A captured the number one spot on the Billboard 200 sales chart in its debut week. According to Richard Menta of MP3 Newswire,^[9] the effect of Napster in this instance was isolated from other elements that could be credited for driving sales, and the album's unexpected success was proof that Napster was a good promotional tool for music. For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... Radiohead are an English alternative rock band from Oxfordshire. ... This article is about the Radiohead album. ... A collection of various CD singles In music, a single is a short recording of one or more separate tracks. ... The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. ... MP3 Newswire is one of the earliest news sites focused on digital media technology. ...

One of the most successful bands to owe its success to Napster was Dispatch. Being an independent band, they had no formal promotion or radio play, yet they were able to tour to cities they had never played and sell out concerts, thanks to the spread of their music on Napster. In July 2007, the band became the first independent band to ever headline New York City's Madison Square Garden, selling it out for three consecutive nights. The band members were avid supporters of Napster, promoting it at their shows, playing a Napster show around the time of the Congressional hearings, and attending the hearings themselves. Shawn Fanning, the founder of Napster, is a known Dispatch fan. Dispatch was an American indie/roots folk band formed at Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont. ... New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG, and known colloquially simply as The Garden, has been the name of four arenas in New York City. ... Shawn Napster Fanning (born November 22, 1980, Brockton, Massachusetts[1]), is a computer programmer. ...

Since 2000, many musical artists, particularly those not signed to major labels and without access to traditional mass media outlets such as radio and television, have said that Napster and successive Internet file-sharing networks have helped get their music heard, spread word of mouth, and may have improved their sales in the long term^{[citation needed]}. Although some underground musicians and independent labels have expressed support for Napster and the p2p model it popularized, others have criticized the unregulated and extra-legal nature of these networks, and some seek to implement models of Internet promotion in which they can control the distribution of their own music, such as providing free tracks for download or streaming from their official websites, or co-operating with pay services such as Insound, Rhapsody and Apple's iTunes Store. Underground music is music which has developed a cult following, independent of commercial success. ... Insound is an online CD, vinyl and MP3 retailer. ... Rhapsody is an online music service run by RealNetworks. ... Apple Inc. ... The iTunes Store is an online business run by Apple Inc. ...

Shutdown

Napster's facilitation of transfer of copyrighted material raised the ire of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), which almost immediately — on December 7, 1999 — filed a lawsuit against the popular service.^[10][11] The service would only get bigger as the trial, meant to shut down Napster, also gave it a great deal of publicity. Soon millions of users, many of them college students, flocked to it. RIAA redirects here. ... is the 341st day of the year (342nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events of 2008: (EMILY) Me Lesley and MIley are going to China! This article is about the year. ... Civil action redirects here. ...

After a failed appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court, an injunction was issued on March 5, 2001 ordering Napster to prevent the trading of copyrighted music on its network.^[12] In July 2001, Napster shut down its entire network in order to comply with the injunction. On September 24, 2001, the case was partially settled. Napster agreed to pay music creators and copyright owners a $26 million settlement for past, unauthorized uses of music, as well as an advance against future licensing royalties of $10 million. In order to pay those fees, Napster attempted to convert their free service to a subscription system. A prototype solution was tested in the spring of 2002: the Napster 3.0 Alpha, using the ".nap" secure file format from PlayMedia Systems and audio fingerprinting technology licensed from Relatable. Napster 3.0 was, according to many former Napster employees, ready to deploy, but it had significant trouble obtaining licenses to distribute major-label music. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts: District of Alaska District of Arizona Central District of California Eastern District of California Northern District of California Southern District of California District of Hawaii... This article is about the day. ... This article is about the year. ... 2001 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December Deaths: July 3 - Mordecai Richler July 23 - Eudora Welty July 31 - Poul Anderson Films: July 4 - Cats and Dogs July 6 - Kiss of the Dragon starring Jet Li July 18 - Jurassic Park III July 27 - Planet of... is the 267th day of the year (268th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the year. ...

On May 17, 2002, Napster announced that its assets would be acquired by German media firm Bertelsmann for $85 million. Pursuant to terms of that agreement, on June 3 Napster filed for Chapter 11 protection under United States bankruptcy laws. On September 3, 2002, an American bankruptcy judge blocked the sale to Bertelsmann and forced Napster to liquidate its assets according to Chapter 7 of the U.S. bankruptcy laws.^[13] is the 137th day of the year (138th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Also see: 2002 (number). ... Bertelsmann AG is a transnational media corporation founded in 1835, based in Gütersloh, Germany. ... is the 154th day of the year (155th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code governs the process of reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. ... Notice of closure stuck on the door of a computer store the day after its parent company, Granville Technology Group Ltd, declared bankruptcy (strictly, put into administration—see text) in the United Kingdom. ... is the 246th day of the year (247th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Also see: 2002 (number). ... Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code governs the process of liquidation under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. ...

Current status

Main article: Napster (pay service)

After a $2.43 million takeover offer by the Private Media Group, an adult entertainment company,^[14] Napster's brand and logos were acquired at bankruptcy auction by the company Roxio, Inc. which used them to rebrand the pressplay music service as Napster 2.0. Napster, LLC (NASDAQ: NAPS, formerly Roxio, Inc. ... Private Media Group - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Roxio is a division and brand of Sonic Solutions. ... pressplay was an online music store created by as a joint venture between Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment. ... Napster, LLC (NASDAQ: NAPS, formerly Roxio, Inc. ...

Napster in popular culture

In the 2003 remake of The Italian Job, a flashback depicts Shawn Fanning (playing himself) stealing the program from a computer expert played by Seth Green while the latter is napping, providing a humorous folk etymology for the name. such as Grokster, Aimster (later Madster), and Blubster. This has also been extended to Friendster, a site which vaguely recalls Napster's community-building features.^[15],[16] The Italian Job is a 2003 action-adventure film, directed by F. Gary Gray. ... Seth Benjamin Gesshel-Green (born February 8, 1974) is an American actor, comedian and television producer. ... Folk etymology is a term used in two distinct ways: A commonly held misunderstanding of the origin of a particular word, a false etymology. ... Grokster Ltd. ... Madster was one of the many P2P file sharing services that appeared in Napsters wake. ... Madster was one of the many P2P file sharing services that appeared in Napsters wake. ... Piolet is a MANOLITO servent developed by Pablo Soto. ... Friendster is an Internet social network service. ...

An episode of animated television series Futurama, I Dated a Robot, centres on the illegal distribution of robotic celebrity clones over the Internet. The organization responsible for this was thought to be named "Nappster," a reference to Napster. It was later revealed, however, that the full name was "Kidnappster" with a piece of tapestry covering "Kid" from the logo. This article is about the television series. ... I Dated a Robot is the fifteenth episode in season three of Futurama. ...

In the South Park episode Christian Rock Hard, Stan, Kyle, and Kenny illegally download music for inspiration for their band 'Moop.' They are then caught by police and shown the "horrors" music pirating does to musicians. After seeing this, they start a strike and famous musicians/bands join them, among them are Rancid, Master P, Ozzy Osbourne, Meat Loaf (all four also playing in Chef Aid), Blink-182, Horny Toad, Metallica, Britney Spears, Missy Elliott, Alanis Morissette and The Lords of the Underworld (minus Timmy). This article is about the TV series. ... Christian Rock Hard is episode 709 of Comedy Centrals South Park. ... Rancid is a punk band, formed in 1991 in Albany, California, by Matt Freeman and Tim Armstrong. ... Percy Miller (born April 29, 1969), better known as Master P, (P. Miller) is an American entertainer and entrepreneur. ... Ozzy redirects here. ... This article is about the singer. ... The title given to this article is incorrect due to technical limitations. ... Metallica is a Grammy Award-winning American heavy metal/thrash metal band formed in 1981[1] and has become one of the most commercially successful musical acts of recent decades. ... Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is a Grammy Award-winning[1] American pop singer, dancer, actress, author and songwriter. ... Missy Elliott (born Melissa Arnette Elliott July 1, 1971 in Portsmouth, Virginia), is a five-time Grammy Award-winning American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. ... Alanis redirects here. ...

In a 2001 episode of the animated Disney series, The Proud Family, Penny becomes addicted to a site named EZ Jackster, a parody of Napster that allows music to be downloaded illegally. This article is about the year. ... The Proud Family is an American animated television series targeted toward African-American pre-teens and teenagers. ...

A tribute song to file sharing "Napster and Gnutella" was written to the tune of "Puff, the Magic Dragon" and distributed via OpenNap servers during the lawsuit. Puff, the Magic Dragon is a song written by Leonard Lipton and Peter Yarrow and made popular by the group Peter, Paul and Mary in a 1963 recording. ... OpenNAP is a piece of free software that replicates the functionality of the once-popular Napster peer-to-peer filesharing server. ...

Tom Smith wrote a song called "I Want my Music on Napster". Tom Smith may refer to: In sports: Tom Smith (Welsh rugby player), (born 1985), Welsh Rugby Football player Tom Smith (rugby player), (born 1971), Scottish Rugby Football player Tom Smith (baseball player), a former Major League Baseball player born in Canada Tom Smith (athletic director) Tom Smith (footballer), scorer for...

See also

• Napster Bad!
• OpenNap
• Snocap – Company founded by Shawn Fanning and other Ex-Napster Employees
• imeem – Founded and developed by ex-Napster employees, in February 2008 it purchased snocap.

Napster Bad! is a series of popular, but controversial Flash cartoons created by Bob Cesca from 2000-2003. ... OpenNAP is a piece of free software that replicates the functionality of the once-popular Napster peer-to-peer filesharing server. ... SNOCAP is a company founded to provide end-to-end provider of digital licensing and copyright management services for the digital music. ... imeem logo imeem is a social media service where users interact with each other by watching, posting, and sharing content of all media types, including blogs, photos, audio, and video. ... SNOCAP is a company founded to provide end-to-end provider of digital licensing and copyright management services for the digital music. ...

Notes

is the 152nd day of the year (153rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... is the 201st day of the year (202nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the year. ... is the 301st day of the year (302nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... Holding --- Court membership Case opinions Laws applied --- A & M Records, Inc. ... // The United States Reports, the official reporter of the Supreme Court of the United States Case citation is the system used in many countries to identify the decisions in past court cases, either in special series of books called reporters or law reports, or in a neutral form which will... The United States District Court for the Northern District of California is the Federal district court whose jurisdiction is comprised of the following counties: Alameda, Contra Costa, Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, Marin, Mendocino, Monterey, Napa, San Benito, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, and Sonoma. ... Year 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... // The United States Reports, the official reporter of the Supreme Court of the United States Case citation is the system used in many countries to identify the decisions in past court cases, either in special series of books called reporters or law reports, or in a neutral form which will... The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the following United States district courts: District of Alaska District of Arizona Central, Eastern, Northern, and Southern Districts of California District of Guam District of Hawaii District of Idaho District of Montana... This article is about the year. ... is the 343rd day of the year (344th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events of 2008: (EMILY) Me Lesley and MIley are going to China! This article is about the year. ... is the 247th day of the year (248th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Also see: 2002 (number). ... is the 255th day of the year (256th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Also see: 2002 (number). ... is the 199th day of the year (200th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Downtown Austin, Texas, where SXSW is held each spring Bloc Party performing at Stubbs BBQ in 2007 Carrie Rodriguez, a SXSW 2007 performer Morrissey at SXSW 2006 South by Southwest (SXSW) is a set of interactive, film, and music festivals and conferences that have taken place every spring in... Skyline from Town Lake Austin is the capital of the state of Texas, within the United States of America. ... is the 75th day of the year (76th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

References

• Carlsson, Bengt and Gustavsson, Rune. 2001. "The Rise and Fall of Napster - An Evolutionary Approach." Proceedings of the 6th International Computer Science Conference on Active Media Technology.
• Geisler, Markus and Pohlmann, Mali. 2003. "The Social Form of Napster: Cultivating the Paradox of Consumer Emancipation." Advances in Consumer Research.
• Geisler, Markus and Pohlmann, Mali. 2003. "The Anthropology of File Sharing: Consuming Napster as a Gift." Advances in Consumer Research.
• Green, Matthew. 2002. "Napster Opens Pandora’s Box: Examining How File-Sharing Services Threaten the Enforcement of Copyright on the Internet." Ohio State Law Journal. 63: 799.
• InsightExpress. 2000. Napster and its Users Not violating Copyright Infringement Laws, According to a Survey of the Online Community.
• Ku, Raymond Shih Ray, "The Creative Destruction of Copyright: Napster and the New Economics of Digital Technology" . University of Chicago Law Review, Forthcoming Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=266964. or DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.266964
• McCourt, Tom and Burkart, Patrick. 2003. "When Creators, Corporations and Consumers Collide: Napster and the Development of On-line Music Distribution." Media, Culture, & Society. 25 (3): 333-350.
• Orbach, Barak. 2008. "Indirect Free Riding on the Wheels of Commerce: Dual-Use Technologies and Copyright Liability" in Emory Law Journal, vol. 57: 409-461.

External links

• Napster, Inc. Website - Formerly Roxio, Inc.
• The Napster Experience - netnographic research on file-sharing as a form of gift giving
• Judge criticises both parties in Napster case