Would you pay $15.99 for a CD of your favorite recording artist if you could get it for
free on the Web? This question has shaken the music industry to its foundations. A
tremendous number of Internet users have taken advantage of online file-sharing
services where they can download digitized music files from other users free of charge.
The first such service to be widely used was Napster. Its Web site provided
software and services that enabled users to locate any of the 1 billion digitized MP3
music files on the computers of other online Napster members and copy them onto their
own computers for free. Napster's own computers did not store any music files, but
instead acted as a matchmaker. To obtain a specific music file, you would sign on to the
Napster Web site and type in the name of the desired song. Napster's central title index
would display the connected computers with that specific song. Napster then established
a direct connection between the requesting......
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