Napster began life in 1999 when collaborators Shawn Fanning and Sean Parker released a program that combined a search engine, a chat program and a peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing program onto the Inte
Napster began life in 1999 when collaborators Shawn Fanning and Sean Parker released a program that combined a search engine, a chat program and a peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing program onto the Internet. P2P sharing entails establishing a direct connection to another users computer in order to upload/download files, unlike normal Web surfing where you connect to a dedicated server that stores the files.
Napster enabled users to connect to one of a select group of very high-capacity servers that supported many people online at once, and allowed them to use a search engine function for MP3s across all the other connected users. Napster servers could support such large amounts of users (and thus, were able to search across large amounts of data), because they did not host the MP3 files being searched for - they merely indexed and listed the MP3s its online users were sharing at the time.
In essence, Napsters systems brought together a group of MP3 enthusiasts - both collectors and people willing to share - and acted as an interface, automating the transfer of MP3 files between the two. Could such transfers be achieved without Napster? Without a doubt (and they are every day), but not with the simplicity or in the sheer massive volume of transfers that Napster was achieving in its heyday when it was unfettered.
Napster met both success and, inevitably, opposition, due to the fact that there were no restraints on what MP3s were shared. If they were in the right (or wrong) folder on your hard disk, someones copyright-protected MP3s of recording artists were just as available as your home recording of Pretty Fly for a White Guy. The ease with which an individual could take an off-the-shelf music CD, rip the tracks into MP3s and then share them with the rest of the world obviously caused concern among those who had a financial stake in the music industry. This increased as Napsters popularity spread with almost unprecedented speed throughout the Internet and MP3 community. Napster also opened up a whole new realm of music to the masses, including self-published albums and old/rare recordings that enthusiasts convert to MP3.
The dubious legality of the vast bulk of Napster-facilitated transfers was fobbed off by its creators with the argument that Napster was for personal use, and that the owners of the service had no control over what took place when people used it. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) took another view entirely, and acted swiftly to protect what it believed was a violation of its members rights. By December 1999, the RIAA had issued a lawsuit against Napster, citing copyright infringement.
High-profile artists soon came out both for and against the Napster concept, with several anti-Napster artists launching their own court action. The pro-Napster contingent made increasing amounts of material available across the embattled service, in addition to the material made available by users without permission of the owners.
In July 2000 an injunction was issued ordering Napster shut down, only to be blocked two days later on appeal. Users frantically increased their usage of the service, realising that it was now living on borrowed time. In late October, recording giant Bertlesmann AG announced that it had dropped its suit against Napster in return for a stake in the business and the right to introduce a membership-type scheme. This still left Napster facing a handful of multinational-backed recording labels, and despite some extravagant offers and claims of potential capital, the remaining recording companies persisted in their action. In March 2001 the service was ordered to work with the aggrieved parties and block all copyrighted songs on its service.
Since then Napster has experienced a decline in usage that is as steady as its initial rise was spectacular. While there are still plenty of copyright-protected songs being listed on the service, the Napster software client is increasingly tightening the loopholes. Recent temporary closures of the Napster service have lead to speculation that the grandfather of P2P may be put out to pasture. The reality is that Napster is gearing up for its long-awaited subscription debut. Whether Napster can succeed as a user-pays business model with a vastly diminished base of music to select from is difficult to say. Ironically, one of the biggest hurdles it now faces will be the P2P brethren that it helped spawn.
This emasculation of the original software has succeeded in plugging one hole in the dike. However, using the same technological concepts as Napster, a whole new breed of P2P clients have sprung up. Unlike Napster, these new clients do not rely on a centralised server system (and therefore are almost impossible to shut down). Instead, they search the Internet for similar clients, which means middleman software such as the Napster servers are not required. An added bonus is the fact that these clients dont just find MP3s, they search for and find virtually any type of file the user specifies. The downside, of course, is that the indexing and organising functions of Napster are replaced with a cruder, less refined system. Also, many of these new-breed utilities are less stable and can have unpredictable effects on your bandwidth when in use.