Between 1999 and 2001 millions upon millions of songs were shared across the first peer-to-peer network of its kind. Napster, a free service which enabled users to share their music across the Internet, quickly became the most used online service from the moment it was launched.

Not only did Napster revolutionize the way people interact with one another over the Internet – it changed the music industry. Users ability to open their libraries for anyone else on the service and the ability to download directly from other’s libraries on the network caught fire. This open exchange of music lead to immense copyright infringement cases and the service was eventually shut down.

The spread of Napster was so quick and overwhelming that it was quickly noticed by the general public. Several major musicians such as Metallica and Dr. Dre filed lawsuits with Napster. Ultimately the Recording Industry Association of America filed a lawsuit in behalf of various record labels and Napster closed its doors in 2001. At its peak, Napster had over 26 million users.

Napster’s open community pioneered peer-to-peer file sharing programs. Many file sharing services followed. Limewire, Bittorrent and Pirate Bay all have similar services. These services ushered in the era of complete file sharing where users could choose to share any file from their computers not just music. Now users could share pictures, documents and movies with each other. These services have also faced many lawsuits. Pirate Bay met the similar fate as Napster.

Individuals wanting to exchange files across the Internet was done only person to person previous to Napster’s open community nature. It’s hard to imagine the Internet now without the ability to connect with strangers.

Perhaps the true utility from the Internet is the ability to share ideas with everyone in the world. The closed world has grown increasingly open due to computers and the Internet. The free flow of information has created amazing innovations and at the same time challenges. Balancing the open nature of the Internet with security will always be a hot topic for debate.