The Music Industry vs Napster A young technical genius named Shawn Fanning developed a piece of software called Napster in 1999 when the internet was still in its infancy.The plaintiffs accused the software company of vicarious copyright infringement and were eventually found guilty in 2002.Metallica's drummer Lars Ulrich filed a lawsuit against the developer of the software in 2000, alleging copyright infringement, unauthorized use of a digital audio interface device, and racketeering.It is a peer-to-peer file-sharing application that allows users to freely share and download music.This incident served as the catalyst for some people's animosity toward Metallica.