A young man named Shaun Fanning who attended high school in Harwich, Massachusetts had two loves, sports and computers. As he became more interested in computers, he decided to stop playing sports and turn his attention toward working with computers. He focused on two aspects of computers, programming and the Internet. His interest with computers grew from a hobby into an obsession throughout high school.
In his freshman year at Northeast University, he attempted to enter computer courses higher than entry level. He was not allowed to enter these courses so in his spare time, he began writing a program based on the Windows operating system. He started spending a lot of time in chat rooms with professional, experienced programmers who knew the trade.
Shaun's roommate had a passion for MP3's, which are computer audio files. He loved using the files but hated the time and trouble it took to find them. Shaun decided he would write the Beta, which is a primary program, for what he called Napster. He had a vision of all users being connected to one central computer and a song list that would be constantly updated. After writing a small version, he gave it to his friends and family to try. Everyone was excited about the results of his brainchild, but this joy would soon turn into a battle for freedom because Napster was freely distributing copyrighted songs.
On May 8, 2000, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) sued the creators of Napster for music piracy. It has become more of a battle for personal rights than copyrights. It has moved to the Supreme Court and has the media and public waiting for the latest court decisions. They are suing Napster for giving people the ability
to download music, even though Napster argues that they are not responsible because they do not supply the songs.
Napster can be downloaded and installed without a charge. After a user sets up the program, it becomes an online music communit...