Back in the late 1970s, out of nowhere, a college dropout created a computer operating system that changed the world-and created the Microsoft empire. Today, a Boston-area college dropout's idea is transforming the way people think about technology and the Internet.
             All it took was a laptop, some solitude, and about 60 hours without sleep for 21 year old Shawn Fanning to become a one man info rave. His work, the file-sharing application called Napster, created during the summer of 1999 at his uncle's office in Hull, Massachussetts, has instantly turned him into an icon of information liberation.
             Because Shawn's Napster, which was released in September 1999 on the website co-founded with 21 year old Sean Parker, lets everyone trade music and other files over the Net with ease and for free. Enraged media companies and artists have alleged that the application trespasses on their copyrighted material, leading to a massive legal battle from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
             Shawn turned out to be right. Napster is the fastest growing website in history. According to Media Metrix, an online tracking service, the number of unique users of Napster rose from just over one million in February to around 6.7 million by August. In one month alone, from July to August, the service grew 30 percent. The startup, with 25 employees in San Mateo, California, got off the ground with $2 million in seed funding from investors that included Angel Investors, ValiCert CEO Yosi Amram, and Excite co-founder Joe Kraus. In the spring of 2000, Napster's second-round funding brought in about $15 million.
             Shawn, to put it another way, is coachable. That's a trait picked up from his jock years, when he excelled at basketball and baseball. It may be that his success as an athlete gave Shawn the confidence to quit school to pursue his idea. And it may be through playing team sports running endless baseball drills and ba...