Irresistible forces - Trevor Merriden

This book is about - but not only about - Napster. The story ofNapster is important in its own right, but its legacy even more so.The phenomenon that surrounds Napster has highlighted theextraordinary potential for the mass mobilisation of consumer andcommunity power. This irresistible force - the underground Internet- has blown apart conventional models of doing business.

Merriden charts the birth of Napster and its genesis in Internetmusic communities. He describes in detail how big businesses feltcomplacent enough to ignore Napster, only to turn on it when thetruth about their business models dawned. As the big companies gotnasty, Bertelsmann and Thomas Middelhof broke ranks and did a dealwith Napster.

The rapid spread in Napster's popularity has made manybusinesses sit up and notice. And it wasn't just because of thecourt room battles highlighted by the media every day. Someestimates put the peak number of Napster users at around 58million. Hard to ignore the cries of the masses. Through theaftermath of those bloody court rooms, Napster has left a lastingimpact on the future of e-business. This legacy affects more thanmusic and record companies. In irresistible forces, Trevor Merridenshows how all businesses who have an interest in the Internetshould pay attention. The influence on business of file sharing andpeer-to-peer technology will be profound in the years ahead.