Case History on Napster

Case Study # 3069

Business > Companies
Computer and Technology > Internet

This is case history on Napster, which includes the background, a timeline, the outcome, the public relations aspect, and the conclusion.

2,570 words () | 5 sources | 2001 United States

Paper Summary:

This paper traces the history of the controversial music sharing internet provider, Napster. The bulk of the paper is an actual timeline that literally moves from month to month covering the major developments in the case. A conclusion is offered along with short biographies.

From the Paper:

"Napster was established in May of 1999 by 19-year-old Shawn Fanning, 20-year- old Sean Parker, and 23-year-old Jordan Ritter. The program was designed by Fanning so that users could share MP3 music files online, using free software that the user downloads from the Napster website. Napster users share MP3 files online and store downloaded files on their computers for playback at their convenience. This is called peer-to-peer sharing. Napster allows users to search the hard drives of other users for files that they wish to download. The program provides technical support for the indexing and searching of MP3 files, and also provides chat rooms where users can talk to one another while searching for their files."