Remember Napster? In the late 1990s, Napster was the go-to place to download free MP3s. I have fond memories of downloading *NSYNC and Blink 182 songs before Napster was shut down by a court injunction. In retrospect, it’s hard to imagine why someone thought they would get away with so blatantly ripping off the music industry, but the reality is that institutions not keeping up with technology allowed for tech-savvy folks to exploit the slow-moving legal system to provide people with a cheaper alternative.
It may seem like this happened eons ago, but we’re going through the same thing today. Only instead of free MP3s, we’re experiencing that same dynamic with Uber, Airbnb, and similar applications–but with much worse consequences. Continue reading