Abstract :
Napster was a catalyst for rampant music file-sharing and put the fear of God into music industry executives worldwide the spectre of digital rights management (DRM) has loomed over online music retailers´ efforts. However, early attempts to restrict the use of CDs were clumsy and secretive and frustrated honest consumers, culminating in 2005 when dozens of class-action lawsuits were filed against Sony BMG after it was discovered that the company had surreptitiously placed digital rights management (DRM) rootkit software on a large number of its CD titles. Hackers were able to exploit this vulnerability to place Trojan viruses on users´ machines. The issue of digital music was becoming increasingly heated. Clearly, something had to change. Legal online music download offerings, such as eMusic.corn´s subscription service, were slowly gaining a foothold, but it was the launch of Apple´s iTunes Music Store (iTMS) in April 2003 and its la carte approach to buying songs that took downloading music to a higher level and, more importantly, to a mass audience.
