This is book is about - but not only about - Napster. The story of Napster is important in its own right, but its legacy even more so. The phenomenon that surrounds Napster has highlighted the extraordinary potential for the mass mobilisation of consumer and community power. This irresistible force - the underground internet - has blown apart conventional models of doing business.

Merriden charts the birth of Napster and its genesis in Internet music communities. He describes how big business felt complacent enough to ignore Napster, only to turn on it when the truth about their business models dawned. As the big companies got nasty Bertelsmann and Thomas Middelhof broke ranks and did a deal with Napster.

Irresistible Forces examines the legacy of Napster and its lasting impact on e-Business. In particular it charts the future of digital rights management, the lasting effect of Napster on the music and other content businesses, the rise of business to community models and the peer-to-peer future.

Irresistible Forces is the soundtrack for the new world of the Internet