Research Paper on:
Napster and Organizational Change

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
with the changes and that what works now wont necessarily work in the future. This paper delves into the topic of organizational change that companies such as Napster have  been forced to learn to deal with. THE MUSIC INDUSTRY There is currently an internationally popular computer program called Napster that allows users to download entire libraries of pirated  songs from the Internet. Some have said that Napster is a product of teenage rebellion. The program was created by 18-year-old Shawn Fanning, a college dropout from Bostons Northeastern  University. Napster is seemingly perfect tool for "dorm-room anarchists who feel like thumbing their noses at big-time record labels. Want music but dont want to pay for it? Simply  visit the Napster Web site (www.napster.com) and download the free software" (Laver 2000, 40). In mere seconds, the computer user is connected to a world of thousands of other  users, each of who are sharing dozens or hundreds of illegally copied songs. The latest technology even allows you to purchase a device to manufacture your own CDs, priced at  around three hundred dollars (Laver 2000). At James Madison University, however, the problem with websites such as Napster have not been as pronounced, but the university is definitely not  completely ignoring the issue (Steinfeldt 2002). CHANGES IN THE WORKS While there have been countless lawsuits regarding copyright laws and the obtaining of free music from the  internet, at least one record company has reached a compromise in the situation. Bertelsmann AG, one of the worlds largest music conglomerates, announced a strategic alliance with Napster Inc.  The deal is to date the most optimistic evidence that corporate copyright holders can possibly catch up in the war over intellectual property that is distributed on the