To some students, the word Napster is synonymous with “free music,” but to many universities it may mean “lawsuit.”
The University has been added to the handful of universities across the country that have received letters from Metallica and Dr. Dre’s attorney, Howard E. King, urging them to ban access to Napster on their campuses.
Napster, the computer program that allows users to download and upload a number of MP3 music files, many of which are protected by copyright law, has been the center of a growing controversy, especially on college campuses where students have access to faster computer networks.
In his letter, King stated that, “an estimated 20 million users regularly commit copyright infringements through Napster,” and he also referred to the activity as “piracy on a massive scale.”
In April, King filed a lawsuit on the behalf of the two music artists against Napster, also naming Indiana University, the University of Southern California and Yale University as co-defendants. The lawsuit against those schools was dropped when they agreed to block Napster access on their campuses.
In the letter that was sent to the University on Sept. 8, King stated that the University had a “moral, ethical and legal obligation to take appropriate steps to assure that it is not a willing participant in the theft of intellectual property.”
The University will respond to the letter in much of the same way as other universities.
“We are drafting a response right now,” said Melinda Grier, general legal counsel for the University. “It will be consistent with the policies we have had in the past.”
The University has never blocked Napster use in the past but does have a code which deals with illegal downloading of copyrighted material. There currently are no plans to block access to the MP3 provider.
“We don’t disagree with what they are trying to accomplish,” Grier said, “but with the way they want to go about it.”
According to Grier, the University does not seem to be in a position where it will soon see a lawsuit.
“I am pretty comfortable with our legal position,” she said. “We don’t feel we have taken a risky position, especially since a number of other universities have also taken this position.”
Some universities have already decided not to comply with the request to ban Napster. In a recent Chronicle of Higher Education article, seven universities, including the Georgia Institute of Technology, Princeton University, Stanford University, the University of California at Berkeley, the University of California at Los Angeles, the University of Michigan and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, stated they would not bow to the attorney’s requests.
A number of students at the University agree with the institutions that refuse to block Napster.
“I hope the University doesn’t give in to the pressure from the attorney,” Jessie Kirk, a sophomore journalism major, said. “It seems like if they block it there will just be another program on its heels.”
Other students agreed.
“I don’t think it is fair [to block access],” Amy Shearer, a sophomore business major, said. “College students don’t have the money to go out and buy music. What I do is sample a few of the songs from an artist and then if I like the CD I go out and buy it.”
While the University will not block Napster from its servers, officials said they are still concerned with students illegally downloading copyrighted material. The University’s proper Internet guidelines are outlined in detail in the University’s acceptable use policies.
“All members of the University of Oregon community should familiarize themselves with the University’s acceptable use policy,” said Jon Miyake, acceptable use policy officer.
As of spring 2000, the University’s position on the Napster issue is to “closely monitor Napster usage” and “continue to cooperate fully with law enforcement authorities when copyright infringements are reported,” according to the University’s spring 2000 computing news Web site.
Penalties for violating the acceptable use policy or downloading illegal copyrighted material could result in civil or criminal action or University sanctions.