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experiences like Napster easier ones. Oh yeah, and to make money. Good luck, Napster, and Godspeed.”

He signed it: “Jordan Ritter, Founding Developer. Joined in June of 1999.”

It was Halloween, just a year after the rave in Oakland, when Napster had about 400,000 registered users. By the time Ritter served out his final two weeks, the number would pass 40 million.

Shawn thought Ritter had done the right thing. “He was getting really down and bringing people around him down,” Shawn said. “He got the opportunity to move on to something that enabled him to get more responsibility and have a little more freedom, so I think that was definitely the right move for him.” But Shawn wasn’t there to tell Ritter any of that. He was in New York with Barry, announcing Napster’s latest would-be savior.

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