edf40wrjww2CF_PaperMaster:Desc
James A. Irvin
BUSI 472
Case #5
Napster: The Debate Over Copyright Infringement
In early 1999, Shawn Fanning, a Northeastern University freshman, created Napster software. That summer he made it available for free through his Napster.com website. Napster is a peer-to-peer technology, which makes it possible for users to freely share their music files through the internet with other users all over the world. Specifically, this is how Napster works:
1.) A user sends a request for a song.
2.) Napster checks its database of music to see if the song is on the PC hard-drive of
another Napster user whose computer is turned on (Note: No music is stored on
Napster servers).
3.) Napster finds the song.
4.) Napster sends the song in MP3 format to the user who requested
On December 6, 1999 the record industry sued Napster in Federal District Court for copyright infringements, and petitioned that court to shut down Napster. On July 26, 2000 the judge issued a temporary injunction to shut down Napster, and the next day Napster appealed the ruling before the U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco. The following day the Appeals Court granted Napster temporary reprieve against injunction so they could further review the injunction request. On October 2, 2000 the opposing parties presented their supporting arguments before the Court. The case was finally resolved on February 12, 2001 when a ruling by the District Court of Appeals upheld the original ruling that Napster was aware its users were swapping copyrighted materials. Subsequently, Napster was ordered to stop allowing its mi ...