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 Napster, created during the summer of 1999 at his uncle's office in Hull, Massachussetts, has instantly turned him into an icon of information liberation.

Because Shawn's Napster, which was released in September 1999 on the website co-founded with 21 year old Sean Parker, lets everyone trade music and other files over the Net with ease and for free. Enraged media companies and artists have alleged that the application trespasses on their copyrighted material, leading to a massive legal battle from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

Shawn turned out to be right. Napster is the fastest growing website in history. According to Media Metrix, an online tracking service, the number of unique users of Napster rose from just over one million in February to around 6.7

But the appeals court said no such protection extends to Napster because the company clearly knew its users were swapping copyrighted songs. "We, therefore, conclude that the district court made sound findings related to Napster's deleterious effect on the present and future digital download market," the appeals court ruled. As expected, the recording industry cheered the news.

Another reason for Metallica suing is they want to create an open discussion about the value of music before it was too late. They felt that Napster was taking it out of their hands. They are also using their legal right to go to court to determine whether or not the Napster system is engaging in the act of copyright infringement. The way they have read the law, Metallica believes that it is, and the MP3.com court decision strengthens their opinion. The Napster decision will have a dramatic impact on how artists continue to record and produce music; and as artists, they felt the need to declare our beliefs in the hopes that others will see the severity of the issue.

Napster founder Shawn Fanning said he was disappointed with the ruling but pointed out that the music service is developing a payment system for music artists that should be in place later this year. "We respect the court's decision, but we believe that Napster users are not copyright infringers," Napster chief executive Hank Barry said at a news conference following the court's ruling.

There are myriad and totally legal possibilities for P2P applications, from swapping dense technical files through a local-area network (LAN),something scientists at the Centers for Disease Control are looking into, to replacing corporate servers with P2P systems for business applications. "The old days, in other words the current Internet we have now, were all about centralization and control, almost Soviet-style," says Miko Matsumura, CEO and co-founder of Kalepa Networks, a six-month-old start-up that plans to link P2P networks into a sort of alternative Internet. "In this new topology, everyone brings their own resources. The new network will be built on top of the old network. Like Rome was built in different layers."

Hilary Rosen, president and chief executive of the Recording Industry Association of America thought it was a clear victory. The court of appeals found that the injunction is not only warranted, but required. And it ruled in their favor on every legal issue presented.

In creating Napster, Shawn not only transformed the music business, but he also helped launch a new programming movement and a whole wave of start ups dedicated to what has become known as P2P, o

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