MP3.com is a web site operate by CNET Networks providing information about digital music and artists, songs, services, community, and technologies. It is probably better known for its original incarnation, as a legal, free music-sharing service, popular with independent musicians for promoting their work. It was named after the popular music file format, MP3. It was shut down on December 2, 2003 at 12:00 p.m. PST by CNET, which, after purchasing the domain name (but not MP3.com's technology or music assets), established the current MP3.com site.