Record CompaniesThe evolution of technologies associated with the Internet has had a great influence on our society by allowing its users to access a great variety of valuable resources without leaving the comfort of their home. Simply by connecting our computer to a server through our phone lines, we are given an endless choice of what to do with our time online. We could purchase items ranging from books and tickets to sporting events and concerts to electronics and clothing. We can entertain ourselves with pornography or just listen to radio stations in foreign countries. IT growth has let us; the computer users explore the infinite possibilities of the “Computer Age”. Napster’s instant popularity is due to its ability to spread musical files free of charge, reducing the need for CDs, it provides new artists with a huge audience, which is all greatly opposed by every major record company. Napster's proposition is simple: users download its free software, which indexes MP3 music files on the user's hard drive and makes them visible to other Napster users when connected to the Internet. From there, all it takes is a simple title or artist search to find other users from whom to download MP3 files. Users typically may find the latest hits through the free network, allowing them to download and listen to the music without paying. This lets the people all over the world obtain any song ever created from the Beetles to Eminem. For example, a little girl from Israel can download the whole N’Sync CD before its release date. Once she has it, she can copy it to an audiotape or a CD. Furthermore, she would be able to make an immense number of copies and either sell them in school or simply distribute them to her friends. It is growing by the hour as more and more people find out about it. Forty percent of Napster's visitors are students, even though Napster was banned at many colleges and universities throughout th...
