BUSINESS : MANAGING IN A GLOBAL CONTEXT

BUSINESS : MANAGING IN A GLOBAL CONTEXT

Business: Managing In a Global Context

The websites selected for this paper are as follows:

Marilyn Manson,

Janet Jackson,

Eminem

Napster is one of a new generation of Peer-to-Peer (P2P) distributed search and sharing systems that embody enormous implications for information professionals. Although the Napster controversy is primarily over MP3 music files, Napster-like technology is emerging that is capable of handling files of virtually any type. Like Napster, it offers new and potentially more effective methods of information retrieval, transcending many problems afflicting current search technologies. Many information professionals harbor conflicting views about Napster's technology and its uses. (Sherman, 2000) Napster represents just the tip of the iceberg of massive, inevitable change that's going to affect virtually all aspects of information search and retrieval.

Napster's story is the stuff of legend. Like many college students, he's seduced by the vast range of music available by swapping tapes and MP3 files with his peers. His roommate complains about how difficult it is to find music on the Web--search engines, even specialized MP3 search engines, often failed miserably, their indexes rife with broken links.

So Fanning hacks together a simple little program that allows people to search the hard drives of fellow music fans for MP3 files. Bored with school and encouraged by his uncle John--a modestly successful software entrepreneur--Shawn drops out of school to work full time on his program. In the tradition of all Net hackers, he logs into online chat rooms using his boyhood nickname "Napster" to solicit feedback and suggestions for his program. (Slinger, 2000)

In just a few days, 3,000 to 4,000 people had downloaded Napster. Shawn Fanning had unleashed on the Web the most popular, viral piece of software ever. When the recording industry sued Napster in December 1999, the story was widely told as a David versus Goliath struggle. When popular rock band Metallica filed its own lawsuit against Napster in April 2000, the story gained a Robin Hood element, a struggle of mythic proportions. Clever kid versus corporate titans. The obscenely wealthy versus struggling students.

Behind Napster's band of merry programmers stand powerful business interests. In May of 1999, a month before Shawn finished his test version of Napster, his uncle John incorporated Napster, giving his nephew a 30% stake. Napster also got Hummer Winblad partner Hank Barry to take over as CEO. Within a month of starting work, Barry retained Microsoft nemesis David Boies to assist with Napster's legal defense. Three weeks after that, Keith Bernstein, former vice president at Universal Music Group's digital-music division, joined the company.

The people behind Napster are building a business--one, that if it survives, has the potential to rival AOL, Yahoo!, and other Web titans, ultimately yielding its investors a stratospheric return. Napster--the software--also isn't quite what it seems. Portrayed as a CD-pilfering device, in reality it's nothing more than a niche File Transfer Protocol (FTP) client bolted together with a chat ...