The combined computing power of millions of interconnected computers is far greater than could ever be accomplished with a centralized computer database system. Whether Napster eventually survives or not is inconsequential to the technology genie it uncorked that will change the nature of the music industry, as we know it. Whereas centrally organized Napster was vulnerable to attack through the court system, decentralized or distributed P2P networks will not be so easy to attack. Copyright law may eventually become irrelevant because it will be virtually impossible to enforce. The Internet has connected people in unprecedented ways.
People can communicate and send data files across the world cost free in the blink of an eye.
Distributed P2P networks where many people store shared data files give consumer generated commerce unprecedented power in the Information Age. As we wrote about previously, doing business on the Internet is different than doing business in the real world where physical limitations are the rule. Industrial Age centralized organizations held the power over consumers because they could maintain control over the distribution of their products and services, but in the Information Age, information and entertainment data files are easily copied and distributed by anyone that is able to access the files. A host of new web sites are springing up like wildflowers that facilitate P2P exchanges. And, there will be more.