It's just not rock 'n' roll
J.G. Wilson · Engineering & Technology · 2009
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.