Napster

            In 1999, the wave of technology took a whole new turn. Downloading and sharing music files through such programs like Napster and Kazaa became more controversial as its popularity grew. From the continuing popularity came two different viewpoints; those of the music industry and those of people who make use of downloading MP3 music files. What makes this such a controversial issue is that there is much argument over who has the rights. That is the problem and I tend to explore the viewpoint of a music artist who feels that the royalties would be higher if the sharing of MP3 files became technically or legally impossible. I chose this specific topic because it interests me since it has to do with people in my generation. It has relevance to the material we covered in class because we discussed downloading and talked about different types of digital media. There is also an article in chapter seven that discusses the exact issue of Napster and its ability to freely download and share music files.
             Napster.
             What started as just an idea in Shawn Fanning's head, a college student from Northeastern University in Boston, became a world wide phenomenon. Fanning is the creator of Napster, which was the first highly recognized and issued form of downloading and sharing music files. Napster was a revolutionary form of technology that allowed users to log into the internet, download music files, and then, to share them with other users who were also logged in. In a way this was a good thing. People were able to download music for free and share them with others. However, it wasn't until the music industry put its foot down on the whole matter, that things started to get controversial. .
             Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
             According to Brad King of WireNews.com, the RIAA, which stands for the Recording Industry Association of America, is an organization that watches over and represents five major recording companies.