Napster Back in the late 1970s, out of nowhere, a college dropout created a computer operating system that changed the world—and created the Microsoft empire. Today, a Boston-area college dropout’s idea is transforming the way people think about technology and the Internet. All it took was a laptop, some solitude, and about 60 hours without sleep for 21 year old Shawn Fanning to become a one man info rave. His work, the file-sharing application called …showed first 75 words of 1777 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1777 total…Sony Betamax decision. Now that the software that powers Napster and other similar sites exist, the practice of swapping digital music files over the Internet will be impossible to stop. Napster does not encourage the infringement of copyright law, and its copyright statement includes the following: "As a condition to your account with Napster, you agree that you will not use the Napster service to infringe the intellectual property rights of others in any way."