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Napster is Launched
Napster is launched by two men by the name of Shawn and John Fanning. It's the first massive scale peer-to-peer network focused exclusively on sharing music through MP3 files mostly. -
Metallica sues Napster
Heavy metal band Metallica sues Napster for copyright infringement after finding a leaked song, "I Disappear," being distributed before it was officially released. -
Copyright infringement
A&M and a bunch of other imprints of the four big record labels sue Napster for copyright infringement on Oct. 2. By now, the service is big enough for the court case to be featured on the cover of Time Magazine. -
Injunction ordered
An appeals court decides mostly in the record labels' favor, and orders Napster to monitor the service and block access to copyrighted files. An injunction is ordered in March. -
Shuts down service
Napster shuts down its service to comply with the injunction. -
Sell to Bertelsmann
Napster announces plans to sell its service to Bertelsmann, and files for bankruptcy in June. But a judge blocks the sale and orders Napster to liquidate in September 2002. -
Roxio buys Napster
Roxio, a maker of digital music software, buys the Napster brand and logo for about $5 million. -
Relaunch of Napster
Roxio buys Pressplay, a failing subscription music service started by major labels Sony and Universal, for about $40 million in cash and stock, and relaunches it under the Napster brand name. -
Roxio changes it's name to Napster
Roxio sells its software business to Sonic Solutions and changes its name to Napster, focusing exclusively on the digital music subscription business. -
Best Buy buys Napster
Best Buy buys Napster for a $121 million ($54 million after accounting for Napster's cash). The company reportedly has about 700,000 subscribers. -
Napster is finally dead
Best Buy sells Napster's customers and intellectual property to Rhapsody in exchange for a minority stake in Rhapsody. The value of the transaction is not disclosed.
