Instead of tapes being copied and shared, MP3s are now copied and shared. Because of the invention of MP3s, music is copied and shared on a much grander scale than tapes, because the Internet allows millions of people to share their music. MP3s, at first, were available on unstable servers that were neither efficient nor fast. In the early 1990s, because of their fast Internet connections, college students were the only people able to download MP3s from web-based servers. In creating Napster, Shawn Fanning implemented a new form of sharing called peer-to-peer sharing, otherwise known as P2P. This kind of sharing eliminates the middleman between computer users, and it allows for a direct connection between people sharing their music (Taro-2). As a result, Fanning not only changed, but also revolutionized the music industry. People now have the greatest access to music than ever. People are entitled to share their music over the Internet, and they should be allowed to share their music with other computer users. Music is like any other form of information that is shared over the Internet. Therefore, people have the right to share their music. .
When Fanning was writing the program for Napster, he did not once think of the legality of Napster. His only intention was to make a program that was simple for people share their music. But the recording industry does not seem to think so. The RIAA claims that Napster " . launched a service that enables and facilitates piracy of music on an unprecedented scale." They also claim that, although Napster is not responsible directly, Napster is distributing music without the record company's permission to people on the Internet. Napster never has copyrighted material in their possession, because its central server only contains directory and index files. But, according to the RIAA, Napster is responsible for enabling people to transfer copyrighted songs over the Internet.