Napster

Name: Napster
Initial Release: 1999
Developers: John and Shawn Fanning, Sean Parker
Description: This media player, utilizing P2P file sharing, is the original  and most popular of all P2P networks that shared MP3 files. In its height it had over "25 million users and 80 million songs". Its downfall was preempted by various bands and artists such as Metallica and Dr. Dre (in addition to several major record labels). "In 2000, A&M Records and several other recording companies, via the RIAA, sued Napster (A&M Records, Inc. v. Napster, Inc.) for contributory and vicarious copyright infringement under the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).[18] The music industry made the following claims against Napster:

   1. That its users were directly infringing the plaintiffs' copyrights.
   2. That Napster was liable for contributory infringement of the plaintiffs' copyrights.
   3. That Napster was liable for vicarious infringement of the plaintiffs' copyrights.

Napster lost the case in the District Court and appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Although the Ninth Circuit found that Napster was capable of commercially significant non-infringing uses, it affirmed the District Court's decision. On remand, the District Court ordered Napster to monitor the activities of its network and to block access to infringing material when notified of that material's location. Napster was unable to do this, and so shut down its service in July 2001. Napster finally declared itself bankrupt in 2002 and sold its assets. It had already been offline since the previous year owing to the effect of the court rulings."
Sources:
A&M Records, Inc. v. Napster, Inc.
Wikipedia