In the late 1990s, music lovers discovered a wonderful source for free music. The development of technology led to electronic files containing songs that took up little space. The development of peer-to-peer (P2P) networks, that enabled people to access files by sharing sections of their hard drives resulted in the creation of music networks that allowed users to share their own music and obtain music from others. Music lovers were not the only beneficiaries of the new technology. Independent artists not attached to any record labels could now share their own music with the public. (Hinduja, 2006)

However, the record industry became concerned that the sharing of music hurt their business. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), a major trade organization for big record labels, took action. First, they went after P2P networks, then they went after consumers, then they initiated the creation of technology that would prevent the sharing of music. All of these actions were problematic. This paper will show the failure of the record industry to sufficiently address this problem.