is funded though private investors led by Hummer Winbald Venture Partners, with additional investments from Angel Investors LP and others. As part of the investment by Hummer Winbald, two of the partners assumed positions on Napster, Inc.'s executive team.
             On December 6, 1999, the RIAA, that includes 18 affiliates of 5 major recording labels, filed an action seeking damages and injunctive relief against Napster, Inc. The plaintiffs alleged that Napster's peer-to-peer file-sharing technology and Internet directory service made Napster contributory and vicariously liable for Napster users' alleged copyright infringement, and related state violations. On January 7, 2000, Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller, and Frank Music Corp. filed a second action alleging similar claims. Both plaintiffs moved for preliminary injunction on June 12. On July 26, the District Court granted the motion. Napster was to refrain from operating by order of the court. But, on July 27, Napster filed an emergency motion for stay and the emergency panel granted the motion. The trial is to take place in October of 2000 and Napster continues to operate under its emergency motion for stay.
             The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)
             The RIAA's mission is to "foster a business and legal climate that supports and promotes our members' creative and financial vitality. In support of our mission, we work to protect intellectual property rights worldwide and the First Amendment rights of artists; conduct consumer, industry and technical research; and monitor and review state and federal laws, regulations and policies (Ref. 9)." The RIAA fights piracy which it defines including four specific forms. One of these forms is defined as "Online piracy is the unauthorized uploading of a copyrighted sound recording and making it available to the public, or downloading a sound recording from an Internet site, e...