Although Napster and Gnutella are neat applications, both face formidable opposition from powerful and entrenched interests. Napster has been sued for copyright infringement by the Recording Industry Association of America, as well as the heavy metal band Metallica and rapper Dr. Dre. Meanwhile, the creators of Gnutella were ordered to stop working on the software by their employer, the world's largest Internet service provider, America Online. Gnutella co-creator Justin Frankel also invented WinAmp, one of the first software tools that could play digital music, and today the most popular music player for Windows. But it was too late.
Some people use it to trade recipes.
But that's just the tip of the iceberg. In other words, file sharing is the next big thing in cyberspace. And it won't just be used for music piracy, and once we get broadband, video piracy. With decentralized file sharing, every true believer, whistle blower, nut case and messiah with a modem wanting to spread the recipe for atom bombs or LSD, kiddy and kitty porn, Nazi propaganda, abortion doctor addresses, apocalyptic prophecies, jihad and all the other unpopular, offensive, seditious, illegal and politically incorrect forms of speech that no newspaper or Internet service provider hoping to stay in business would dare publish, will now have a forum. For better and for worse.