Dartmouth will not join a growing number of other colleges in banning on-campus access to Napster -- at least for now. With Napster and other web-based music acquisition services under heavy attack by the recording industry, more colleges and universities are buckling under the pressure and blocking student use of the sites.
According to Larry Levine of Dartmouth Computing Services, "there have been no dramatic shifts," in the College's approach to Napster and other similar services.
"[Blocking Napster] has been discussed," he said. "We'll continue to discuss it, [but] we'd rather not take steps to restrict people using the Internet."
Levine explained that while the College does not condone the act of obtaining intellectual property illegally, it is reluctant to take on the role of "Internet police."
Napster was founded in May of 1999 by Shawn Fanning, then a freshman at Northeastern University. Since its creation, the online music-sharing service has rapidly gained popularity among Internet users, particularly college students, as a means of obtaining both copyrighted and uncopyrighted recordings quickly and efficiently.
Napster's unprecedented success gave rise to several similar services, including Gnutella, Scour and Macster, a Macintosh version of Napster. Napster itself currently boasts nearly five million users, according to Reuters News Service.
Recent lawsuits alleging copyright violations brought forward by various record labels and performers now threaten the future of the online music-sharing industry.
Most recently, a judge levied heavy fines on MP3.com, a site that allows CD owners to access their music on the Internet. Napster, meanwhile, is set to face a federal appeals court hearing in October.Colleges and universities throughout the nation, including Amherst College, are taking actions to prevent students from utilizing music-sharing sites.
Yale University was dropped from a lawsuit brought by Metallica after banning the site, and more than a dozen colleges including Stanford and Harvard Universities received complaints from lawyers representing music groups.
Most Dartmouth students who spoke with The Dartmouth disapprove of such college-enforced regulation of music-sharing services.
"The Internet is free public domain and everybody has the right to access it when they're on a college campus or at home," Pablo De La Huerta '03, a Napster user, said.
Matt Sullivan '02, a past Macster user, agrees.
"I don't think the College has the right to tell us where and when we can go to whatever address on the Web if it gives us the right to go on the web in the first place," he said.
But, one '02, who asked to remain anonymous, expressed concerns that students' frequent use of services like Napster may create technical problems.
Levine acknowledged that while at some points, nearly 50 percent of the Internet usage at the College is devoted to Napster and Napster-like sites, this issue alone is not significant enough to warrant the blockage of music-sharing sites.
According to Levine, what will force the College's hand is government action. To date, Congress has not passed specific laws banning the services provided by Napster and its competitors.
Not surprisingly, the majority of Dartmouth students who talked to The Dartmouth would like to keep it that way.
