Assessing Napster - 10 years later

When 18-year-old Shawn Fanning released his Napster file-sharing program on the Internet 10 years ago this month, little did he know he was unleashing a digital revolution that would continue today. The teen simply saw a better way to share good music among friends. But within months, millions of people around the world were hooked. Although the original Napster was buried long ago by a copyright-infringement lawsuit, the program hastened the Internet's role in becoming a primary conduit for digital entertainment. It also dragged traditional media companies into a new era of changing consumer habits.