Shawn Fanning

Shawn Fanning is an American computer programmer best known for creating Napster in 1999, one of the first peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing platforms. Napster revolutionized how people shared music by allowing users to easily find and download songs directly from each other's computers. This innovation significantly impacted the music industry by making digital music widely accessible, but also led to legal challenges over copyright infringement. Fanning’s work helped pave the way for future digital technologies and online sharing platforms, highlighting both the potential and the complexities of peer-to-peer networks.