By David Schepp BBC News Online's North America Business Reporter

When Jeff Bezos set out seven years ago to change the way people bought books - over the internet - he had no idea his firm, Amazon.com, would become a cultural phenomenon.

Likewise, when Shawn Fanning started his fledgling music-swapping business, called Napster, several years later, he had not a clue that its immense popularity would eventually lead to its undoing.

[Napster] is an example of how empowering the internet and technology, in general, can be

Jeff Bezos Amazon.com CEO

On Monday, Napster filed for bankruptcy, following a crippling lawsuit brought by the recording industry, which viewed the trend-setting web site as nothing more than a pirate operation.

The decision to file for Chapter 11, as a reorganisation is called under US bankruptcy law, is part of a deal under which Bertelsmann, the German media giant, has agreed to buy Napster's assets for just $8m.

'A no-brainer'

Unlike Mr Fanning, Amazon.com's Bezos has not yet had to call it quits. His firm remains committed to growth.

Nevertheless, Mr Bezos' admiration of the beaten Mr Fanning was apparent in an exclusive interview with BBC News.

"It's an example of how empowering the internet and technology, in general, can be," Mr Bezos says of Mr Fanning's development and launch of Napster.

Shawn Fanning wrote his Napster software in a college dorm room. It eventually became one of the most visited sites on the web, which, to Mr Bezos, was a no-brainer.

"It's not surprising that if you give away music for free people are going to be interested in that," he says. "But the technology used... is pretty darned interesting."

Lower prices

It is technology that is dear to Mr Bezos.

Mistakes in the US lead to better decisions in Europe

The so-called Moore's Law, which observes that a doubling of speed in certain technologies takes place every year, has allowed Amazon.com to implement new features at its web site, lower prices and provide faster delivery times.

Mr Bezos says improvements in computers and internet-connection speeds have been key in building his firm's foray into worldwide commerce.

Amazon.com's sales are up 30% year over year.

What's driving those sales are "significantly" lower prices at the site, which spurs international sales to customers.

"We're lower in price because we can afford to do so," he says.

First-ever profit

Mr Bezos says Amazon.com has reduced shipping times by two-thirds to many of the 220 countries to which it ships.

"One of the reasons our international business is growing so rapidly is not just the fulfilment centres in those countries," he says, "It's also the export business."

Amazon.com has steadily bolstered its presence outside the US, turning a little-tapped market into a cash cow.

That strategy helped propel his firm to its first-ever profit during last three months of 2001.

Mr Bezos says Amazon.com's failures in the US have allowed it to better launch its European operations.

He points to the distribution centres, or warehouses, the firm built several years ago to deal with increased demand, allowing for greater inventories and reduced shipping times.

Thousands of partners

Amazon.com quickly realised, however, it overdid it, and shuttered one of those warehouses.

"We overbuilt capacity a little bit," he readily concedes. "We built five big mechanised distribution centres, and we should have built four."

But he says that mistake led to smarter decisions when it came to building its European operations.

"We built much more efficiently when we built our fulfilment centres outside the US," he says.

Amazon.com continues to build its network of partner retailers, such as discount chain Target and Toys "R" Us.

CEO Bezos says by doing so, the internet retailer hopes to provide its customers with anything they might want.

"Our vision is to become a one-stop shopping place for anyone to buy anything," Mr Bezos says.

"It will be done not exclusively by us alone but in conjunction with what will ultimately be thousands of partners."

The benefit of which, he says, is lower prices and better selection for Amazon.com customers.