An argument could be made that Napster contributed to the acceleration of that trend, but it was well underway already. The Software Publishers Association was coordinating raids of businesses for pirated software at least as far back as 1991. The WIPO Copyright Treaty was ratified in 1996, and the DMCA was passed in 1998 to implement it. CSS was introduced with DVD in 1996. United States v. LaMacchia was decided in 1994, leading to the passage of the NET Act in 1997. The first versions of SecuROM and SafeDisc were released in 1998. The same year, the Secure Digital Music Initiative was formed.
Yep, that's why I said "helped". Obviously software piracy was a problem in some corners. And we knew the kinds of moves that were being made (not just on this, but on things like surveillance and censorship). Then comes things like Napster, serving up on a silver platter a high-profile pretext -- and increased legitimate need that couldn't be ignored.
