Shawn Fanning may have been aware of the value in terms of utility that his program for online file-sharing would offer, but he may not have been aware of how quickly, and extensively, the program would become popular. Napster, together with its copy-cat counterparts, would soon be used on a daily basis by millions of people around the world[3]. Take this statement from David Kusek's The Future of Music into consideration; “File-sharing has become the most popular way for people to find out about music, with over 75 percent of the teenagers in the U.S. engaging in it."[4] And still today this rings true; digital media file-sharing continues to be done over the internet among millions of users around the world. Here are a few startling statistics and facts: It is estimated that the number of internet file-sharing users is growing at a rate of 100 percent annually[5]; roughly 56 percent of American teenagers download music online and believe it is acceptable although it is illegal [6]; and finally, approximately 12 times the number of songs sold through record stores annually are downloaded online[7].
Shawn Fanning may have been aware of the value in terms of utility that his program for online file-sharing would offer, but he may not have been aware of how quickly, and extensively, the program would become popular. Napster, together with its copy-cat counterparts, would soon be used on a daily basis by millions of people around the world[3]. Take this statement from David Kusek's The Future of Music into consideration; “File-sharing has become the most popular way for people to find out about music, with over 75 percent of the teenagers in the U.S. engaging in it."[4] And still today this rings true; digital media file-sharing continues to be done over the internet among millions of users around the world. Here are a few startling statistics and facts: It is estimated that the number of internet file-sharing users is growing at a rate of 100 percent annually[5]; roughly 56 percent of American teenagers download music online and believe it is acceptable although it is illegal [6]; and finally, approximately 12 times the number of songs sold through record stores annually are downloaded online[7].