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pany slide into bankruptcy. Yet the legacy of Napster's original technology is hard to overstate. The firm's pirate successors now combine for a bigger reach than Napster had at its peak. The record industry suffers from both declining sales and judicial scrutiny of whether its members conspired to suppress online distribution. Movie companies and others fear with good reason that they will be the next to be “Napsterized.” And all manner of academics, start-ups, and giant firms are embracing what's known as peer-to-peer file sharing, hailed by Netscape Communications Corp. founder Marc Andreessen as a “once-in-a-generation idea.”

For Shawn and his friends, it would be an incredible trip. But it certainly wouldn't be an easy one.

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