Gourt > Computers > Software > Internet > Clients > File Sharing > Napster
- For Napster, Inc. (formerly Roxio), and the paid Napster music service see Napster (pay service).
Napster is an online music service which was originally a file sharing service created by Shawn Fanning. Napster was the first widely-used peer-to-peer (or P2P) music sharing service, and it made a major impact on how people, especially university students, used the Internet. Its technology allowed music fans to easily share MP3 format song files with each other, thus leading to the music industry's accusations of massive copyright violations. Although the original service was shut down by court order, it paved the way for decentralized P2P file-sharing programs such as Kazaa, Limewire, and BearShare, which have been much harder to control. Napster continues to live on with pay services today. The popularity and repercussions of the first Napster has made it a legendary icon in the computer and entertainment fields.
Origins
Shawn Fanning along with volunteer Sean Parker first released the original Napster in June of 1999 while Fanning was attending Northeastern University in Boston. Fanning wanted an easier method of finding music than by searching IRC or Lycos. John Fanning of Hull, Massachusetts, who is Shawn's uncle, struck an agreement which gave Shawn 30% control of the company, with the rest going to his uncle. Napster began to build an office and executive team in San Mateo, California, in September of 1999. Napster was the first of the massively popular peer-to-peer file sharing systems, although it was not fully peer-to-peer since it used central servers to maintain lists of connected systems and the files they provided - directories, effectively - while actual transactions were conducted directly between machines. Although there were already media which facilitated the sharing of files across the Internet, such as IRC, Hotline, and USENET, Napster specialized exclusively in music in the form of MP3 files and presented a user-friendly interface. The result was a system whose popularity generated an enormous selection of music to download. Although the recording industry denounced music sharing as equivalent to theft, many Napster users felt justified in using the service for a number of reasons. Many believed that the quality of new albums had decreased by the mid-1990s, with the typical bestselling album containing only one or two good songs bundled with many low-quality "filler" songs. Additionally, the price per track had greatly increased as an increase in the overall price of CDs was coupled with a decrease in the number of tracks included with each CD. People praised Napster because it enabled them to obtain hit songs without having to buy an entire album. Napster also made it relatively easy for music enthusiasts to download copies of songs that were otherwise difficult to obtain, like older songs, unreleased recordings, and songs from concert bootleg recordings. Some users felt justified in downloading digital copies of recordings they had already purchased in other formats, like LP and cassette tape, before the compact disc emerged as the dominant format for music recordings. More on [ Napster ]
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After Napster - A site that lists the alternatives.
Meta Description: [ FreshNoise offers an overview of the Filesharing and P2P (peer to peer) market. We offer a complete listing of popular filesharing tools, as well as tutorials on how to use and instal p2p clients like Kazaa, BitTorrent, Limewireand Ares. FreshNoise has been documenting the world After Napster sin... ]
AudioGnome - Popular napster-compatible client for Windows.
BeBits - Napster client for BeOS.
FindLaw Napster News - Updates on the legal disputes against Napster from Findlaw.com
Meta Description: [ FindLaw for Legal Professionals is a free resource for attorneys that includes online case law, free state codes, free federal codes, free legal forms, and a directory of products and services for lawyers. This online legal Web site also includes a legal career center. ]
Gnapster - GNOME napster client distributed under GPL. Runs on UNIX under X-windows.
Meta Description: [ The world's largest development and download repository of Open Source code and applications ]
JNap - Napster clone written in Java. [Open Source, GPL]
jNapster - Open source Napster client written in Java.
Meta Description: [ The world's largest development and download repository of Open Source code and applications ]
KLassphere DICE - DICE is a hybrid server that can host IRC clients and Napster-compatible opennap clients.
Lopster - GTK Napster Client. [Open Source]
napMan - napMan is an infobot that provides a real time glimpse into the current state of the network at Napster.
OpenNap - Open source Napster server.
Opennap-NG - Opennap NG is a further development of the well known opennap-server created by drscholl.
Meta Description: [ Opennap-NG 0.49 ]
Salon.com Napster Directory - Regularly updated editorials on the Napster controversy.
SlavaNap - Napster-compatible server for Windows.
Meta Description: [ SlavaNap - Napster-compatible server for Win32 ]
SunshineUN - SunshineUN the new Opennap client. A real alternative to Napster.
Meta Description: [ SunshineUN the new Opennap client. A real alternative to Napster. Get it now! ]
Warpster - A Napster client for OS/2 Warp v4 with easy to use notebook interface and ability to resume downloads.
Meta Description: [ Napster client for OS/2 ]
XNap - Napster client, includes meta-search on multiple servers, autoconnect, and commandline interface. [GPL]
XNapster - News and information on Napster and file sharing.
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