UNIVERSITIES JUMP ON
NAPSTER BAN-WAGON
In a study of 50 U.S. colleges and universities, 40% have banned the song-swapping service from campus. Research firm Gartner Group Inc conducted the survey.
Among the 20 schools banning Napster are New York University, Kent State, Arizona State, Notre Dame, Northwestern, Seton Hall, Yale, Wellesley College and University of Southern California.
Cornell, Duke, MIT, Columbia, Princeton, Harvard, Stanford, UCLA and Brigham Young University still allow students to access Napster.
Napster CEO Hank Barry, who spent his college years taking yoga classes instead of math, said: "We are pleased that two-thirds of the schools polled in the survey will allow their students to participate in the Napster community. On the bandwidth front, Napster is working in a variety of ways to manage bandwidth issues at college campuses. Our Bandwidth Management Resource Guide, which has been in place since June, is designed to help guide IT professionals to product-based solutions for various network architectures."
When it was pointed out that 20 of 50 is 40%, Barry simply assumed the warrior position.
The use of Napster has raised moral and legal issues for the schools, with administrators quickly making ban/no ban decisions and writing up policies to address these concerns.
Students will be able to use school networks and Internet access for file-swapping at least through September. On 8/29, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said a three-judge panel would hear oral arguments in the Napster appeal the first week of October.
Said Gartner senior analyst P.J. McNealy: "This is a real-world class lesson on campuses nationwide. This is where the school policies must address the student or consumer behavior, and national copyright and censorship laws will help shape the outcome for the music industry."
