Many universities across the nation have recently blocked on-campus use of Napster, Macster, iMesh and other MP3 file indexing and retrieval programs in response to large volumes of usage, which slows down their networks -- and Dartmouth is actively monitoring the situation here.
The University of Texas at Austin, Boston University, the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, Oregon State University and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign are among approximately 70 schools preventing network access to Napster and other similar programs.
Dartmouth Computing Services is currently monitoring the volume of Napster use but has no immediate plans for a ban on its use as of yet, though the possibility looms.
"It's kind of contrary to our attitude toward network use," Director of Computing Larry Levine said of the potential ban, though he made it clear that he has not ruled anything out yet.
"What we've seen is disturbing," he said of the increasing volume of use by Dartmouth students.
Napster and similar programs allow users to quickly search large numbers of servers for MP3s, which are often in violation of copyright laws, and download them onto their PCs.
The problem, Levine said, is that the users also become servers themselves and create large volumes of network traffic both downloading and retrieving. This can greatly slow the overall network, including basic World Wide Web access.
Computing Services' Senior Programmer Steve Campbell described the College's Internet access as a pipeline that can only exchange a certain amount of information per second.
Recently, Napster and similar programs often account for 20 to 30 percent of the total network pipeline usage, or bandwidth. He hypothesized that during the evenings and late nights when Computing Services does not monitor the volume, the percentage could be even higher.
Campbell said although current Napster use is at tolerable levels, he only sees it increasing in the future. In that case, the College will have to seriously consider blocking its usage.
"It's a violation of the computing code to deny others their fair share of resources. When traffic becomes heavy enough to literally slow down the network, we would have to ask students to stop," he said. "Our first priority is work directly with the mission of the College."
For example, Campbell said that from 11:30 a.m. yesterday to the time he spoke with The Dartmouth at 4:00 p.m., the College's bandwidth was 100 percent full. Campbell said this is common and usually continues to be full until around midnight most weekdays.
The question of the legality of MP3 use also still remains.
The Recording Industry Association of America is currently suing Napster, claiming the company is contributing to vast copyright infringement. Napster claims to respect copyright laws.
Campbell said the College has been contacted by the RIAA at least three times in recent memory in response to MP3 copyright violations by students whose personal computer were facilitating MP3 downloads from off-campus locations.
"It could happen tomorrow," he said of a possible Napster ban. However, "if we block it, we would not do it without making some sort of public announcement."
"To block it would be a last resort," Campbell said.
