'U' concerned about MP3 use

By Robert Gold

Daily Staff Reporter

Napster.com, a popular MP3 music search site, has come under fire from universities across the nation.

Napster.com, is a Website that includes a software program to guide users to MP3 music files available worldwide.

MARJORIE MARSHALL/Daily LSA sophomores Kevin Widjaja and Cecil Bosshard listen to music on computers in the School of Art and Design yesterday.

It locates all MP3 files downloaded under the program and automatically sets up the user's computer as a server.

The program is only available to computers with Windows applications.

Several universities have blocked access to Napster.com on their networks, citing the amount of bandwidth space the software takes on school computer networks.

Northwestern University eliminated access to the Website last December. Northwestern's Information Technology Director of Communications Susan Andrews said the site had accounted for 20 percent of the network's resources before the ban.

This caused the university's server to transport other information at a slower rate. Andrews said Northwestern

increased the network's bandwidth but Napster.com visitors took up the augmented space.

"We wanted to make sure Internet resources (were) available for research and education," Andrews said.

Northwestern engineering freshman Michael Calhoun said while he was upset at first, he understands the university's point of view.

"I'm not familiar with anyone saying 'I need Napster for legitimate reasons,' " Calhoun said.

Andrew Palms, University of Michigan Information Technology Division director of product development for IT Communications, said Napster's impact here is a concern, but there are no plans for a ban.

"We would far prefer to do things on an education campaign," Palms said, adding that previous information efforts such as increasing awareness about password security have been successful.

ITD staff members said they noticed Napster's impact in October, Palms said. Napster activity takes up about 3 percent of the University's main network resources, Information Technology Division Technologist Kurt Hillig said. The main network, called the net backbone, connects most of the University's networks.

Hillig said the backbone is currently operating close to capacity, adding that extra programs cause applications such as Internet use and e-mail to move at a slower pace.

The Website made up zero percent of the network's bandwidth in September, Palms said.

"Because it's taken off so quickly ... we're not sure we can get the resources quickly enough to handle the increased use of MP3s," Palms said.

Palms added that if Napster users deactivate the server aspect of the program, the University network would face less traffic problems.

Hillig said ITD is scheduled to update the network backbone by threefold on March 31. He added that this summer, numerous residential areas added faster Ethernet connections while the backbone was not updated.

In October, Oregon State University was in a similar situation as the University of Michigan.

Five percent of all outbound traffic on the university's Residential Computer Network computers was attributed to Napster. The Oregon State's Res Com Net eliminated access to the Website last November, Network Administrator Chris White said.

"We basically caught it before it got bad," he said.

The group originally planned on calling students who used Napster but opted for a ban after user quantity increased greatly, White said.

Napster is also facing legal problems. The Recording Industry Association of America sued the company in December, alleging that the company violates copyright laws by offering some pirated music.

Users who distribute the downloaded music to other people are technically breaking copyright law.

Northwestern freshman Chris Mayo said he has used the site.

"Personally, most students don't have that much money (but) we should be paying for it," Mayo said.

He added that he does not object to the Northwestern's decision to eliminate the Website.

"I wish they would come out and say they banned it for the right reasons," Mayo said.