Mid-19th century: Cherokee Indians exchange war songs through intricate system of smoke signals. Shut down when Sitting Bull sues, demanding $100 and a buffalo pelvis for each of his songs traded in that manner.
1874: Karl Marx’s General Theory on Markets predicts rise of mp3 free exchange, outside boundaries of bourgeoisie infrastructure. Book is banned in Germany, England, and Motown.
September 24, 1999: A simple download of the Doogie Howser, M.D. theme song takes 37 hours for economically disadvantaged student connecting to Napster using wireless telegraph. Samuel Morse spins in his grave. (but only because his great-granddaughter marries an Irishman)
January 13, 2000: First Napster user has sufficient moxie to falsely claim his 14.4 modem’s connection speed as a “T3 or faster.”
July 13, 2000: Napster’s stock quadruples in first day after IPO, as investors gush over profit potential of free software, available from website completely devoid of advertising. Pending litigation from every single band and record company in America leaves investors salivating.
