KITTY GOES TO COLLEGE

The University of Rochester will pay the burgeoning netco (now the property of software leader Roxio) to give its 3,700 students access to Nappy's downloads, pre-programmed radio, exclusive content and other goodies. The service will be available in campus residence halls.

The University has kindly agreed to plunk down monthly fees on a trial basis through spring semester of 2005, at which time students will be asked to please stop downloading and finally pick a major. Or at least go outside... it's spring, for pete's sake!

Students will be able, through Napster's Premium Service, to stream and "locally download" as many of the 500,000+ tracks as they wish, as well as listen to more than 50 interactive radio stations, watch videos, enjoy Nappy's Fuzz zine, peep the charts, post on bulletin boards, and share tracks with friends. They must purchase tracks and/or albums they wish to burn to CD or transfer to portable devices.

Given that the notorious original incarnation of Napster was virtually synonymous with dorm-room scofflaws, the fate of the pact will no doubt be subject to great scrutiny. While it is unlikely that the presence of Napster will keep students entirely off old-school P2P swapperies, the easy-access plan sensibly banks on one constant: laziness.

"This deal between Napster and the University of Rochester demonstrates the momentum behind our initiative to put the world of legitimate digital music in the hands of college students—the world's most demanding music consumers," noted Napster SVP of Business Development Larry Linietsky, momentarily putting aside college students' baffling tolerance of godawful jam bands.

"Digital distribution of entertainment media is definitely the wave of the future," exclaimed University Provost Charles E. Phelps, who happens to chair a Task Force on Technology for the National Joint Committee on File-Sharing, on which RIAA and MPAA reps happen to sit. "I am very proud that the University of Rochester will be at the forefront of this emerging trend by offering students easy access to a high-quality, legitimate music service. And I haven't been this popular on campus since I got the cafeteria to start serving corn dogs."

Meanwhile, Napster is also working with the Eastman School of Music on a plan to provide "original content" to its students and faculty.