As the Napster war continues, University officials denied a request Friday from the lawyers of music artists Metallica and Dr. Dre to block on-Grounds access to the controversial Internet file-sharing service.
Napster allows its users to share MP3 music files freely, often in violation of copyright laws. The lawyers prosecuting Napster hope colleges will voluntarily block the service.
In a letter dated September 6, attorney Howard King urged the University to ban Napster access immediately.
"The University of Virginia has a moral, ethical and legal obligation to take appropriate steps to assure that it is not a willing participant in and an enabler of the theft of intellectual property through Napster," the letter states.
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Similar letters were sent to other large schools including Georgia Tech, Princeton, Stanford, the University of California at Berkeley and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, all of which also denied King's request.
In April, King filed a lawsuit against Napster on behalf of Metallica for copyright infringement that named Indiana University, the University of Southern California and Yale University as co-defendants.
Although the schools were dropped from the suit after banning access to the service, King can still add defendants as he sees fit.
The letter from King is the only communication he has had with the University. He has not threatened any legal action so far, University spokeswoman Louise Dudley said.
The University's response letter to King states that it decided not to block access to Napster because the site offers several communication channels in addition to copyrighted music.
The letter, signed by the University's Attorney Paul Forch, states: "the University's enforcement policy addresses reported and individual instances of misuse [and the University is] implementing affirmatively a mandatory orientation to educate users and deter copyright violation."
Part of this orientation includes new questions about copyright violations on the online quiz all first years must pass before receiving their University e-mail accounts.
Spokeswoman Dudley said although the University has investigated student copyright violations in the past, she is unaware of "any violations specifically pertaining to Napster."
Commerce School Prof. John Wheeler explained at a Napster forum last night that by not banning access, the University retains its status as a conduit. Conduits are servers like America Online and the University's ethernet system that do not police the activities of its users, thereby avoiding liabilities.
Wheeler agrees with the decision not to ban access and thereby lose the benefits of being a conduit. "If I were U.Va., I wouldn't come near losing this protection," he said.
Honor Committee Chairman Thomas Hall said although the use of Napster to download files is technically stealing, "most students agree that openly tolerating Napster does not impede the community of trust" and is not a serious enough offense to warrant Committee investigations.
Hall said he does not have Napster on his computer.
Napster is doomed in a legal sense with the current copyright laws and its only hope is if the laws change, Wheeler said. He cited the approximately 75 million people who use Napster as the possible vehicles for that change.
"If 75 million people want Napster to change the law, why can't 75 million people change the law? That's a heck of a lobby"
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