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The RIAA files a lawsuit against the Napster file-sharing client, on charges of copyright infringement.

Napster was an American proprietary peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing application primarily associated with digital audio file distribution.

Napster was an American proprietary peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing application primarily associated with digital audio file distribution. Founded by Shawn Fanning and Sean Parker, the platform launched on June 1, 1999. Audio shared on the service was typically encoded in the MP3 format. As the software became popular, the company encountered legal difficulties over copyright infringement. Napster shut down in 2001 following a series of lawsuits and subsequently filed for bankruptcy in June 2002.

The P2P model employed by Napster involved a centralized database that indexed a complete list of all songs being shared from connected clients. While effective, the service could not function without the central database, which was hosted by Napster and eventually forced to shut down.

Historical Significance

Napster was an American proprietary peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing application primarily associated with digital audio file distribution.

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  5. Metallica files a lawsuit against the peer-to-peer sharing platform Napster, accelerating a movement against file-sharin

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Frequently Asked Questions

What happened on December 7, 1999?
Napster was an American proprietary peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing application primarily associated with digital audio file distribution. Founded by Shawn Fanning and Sean Parker, the platform launched on June 1, 1999. Audio shared on the service was typically encoded in the MP3 format.
Why is The RIAA files a lawsuit against the Napster file-sharing client, on charges ... significant?
Napster was an American proprietary peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing application primarily associated with digital audio file distribution.

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December 7 in HistoryYear 1999