College Student Creates Nationwide Scandal
in Dorm Room
(Topic Area: Net People and Places)
Eighteen-year-old Shawn
Fanning's roommate at Northeastern University couldn't find a song he
wanted to download on the Internet, and a light went off in young Shawn's
mind. Many painstaking hours and skipped classes later, Napster, the
world's biggest file-sharing program, was born.
Deriving its title from Fanning's high
school nickname, Napster was based on the premise of peer-to-peer (p2p)
sharing of musical mp3 files - both independent and copyrighted. With
the help of his uncle, John Fanning, Shawn turned his late-night project
into a lucrative business, as well as one of history's biggest technological
scandals. Napster thrived, and Fanning dropped out of college to move
from his coastal Massachusetts town to Silicon Valley, where he could
focus whole-heartedly on his new career.
As more than twenty million users logged
onto Napster, major-label album sales for 2001 dropped 4.6% from the
year before, and the profits from singles plummeted by thirty percent.
Fanning was sued by the five major record labels, and Napster was ordered
to be shut down in July 2000, but the suit was later lifted during an
appeal, thanks to representation by attorney David Boies, who arguably
"brought down Microsoft." Not until June 2001 did Napster
reach its true end, being forced to pay a sum of $26 million dollars
to settle its legal disputes.
Despite the demise of Napster, file-sharing remains a prominent practice
on the Internet today. Though many people still argue the morality of
the original Napster, the fact that Shawn Fanning's creation left a
dramatic and permanent mark on the Internet as we know it is indisputable.
Sources
Title of Web Page: Shawn Fanning
Web Address: www.businessweek.com/2000/00_20/b3681054.htm
Brief Description: A brief description of Shawn Fanning and his
controversial program Napster. A picture of Fanning is included.
Source of Website: Businessweek Online
Title of Web Page: Napster's Shawn Fanning: The
Teen Who Woke Up Web Music
Web Address: www.businessweek.com/ebiz/0004/em0412.htm
Brief Description: A personal angle on the infamous Napster case.
Source of Website: Businessweek Online
Title of Website: Q&A: Napster Creator Shawn
Fanning
Web Address: http://zdnet.com.com/2100-11-502047.html?legacy=zdnn
Brief Description: Interview with Shawn Fanning, creator of Napster.
Source of Website: ZDNet Music