The Library Access to Music Project -- LAMP -- created by two Massachusetts Institute of Technology students, was shut down indefinitely Monday after being active for only a week.
Keith Winstein and Josh Mandel created LAMP with the hope that they would be able to share music with students across the campus legally.
The program broadcast music, which they had attempted to legally license, over MIT's cable network as opposed to the Internet. This analog method of transfer was supposed to be subject to less-strict copyright laws than exact copies of music downloaded from the Internet.
According to a press release issued by MIT, the university had always planned to create a completely legal music service. MIT relied on a service known as Loudeye, a Seattle-based company, to obtain authorized content and appropriate licenses.
MIT obtained licenses from ASCAP, BMI and SESAC record companies. However, after the service was initiated, Loudeye informed MIT that some of the assurances made about the legality of the service may have been mistakes. Following this announcement, MIT temporarily suspended LAMP until officials can be absolutely certain that the service is completely legal.
The Universal Music Group was one of the primary objectors to LAMP. According to a statement issued Friday, UMG said they believe that LAMP attempted to avoid paying record companies and artists for their services.
The creators of LAMP have made code for software that facilitates the system publicly available, meaning that such a system could be implemented on other campuses, including the University.
"I think it would be a good system but I do not think that it would have the impact of stopping people from illegally downloading music," said first-year College student Stephanie Manaker. "People are going to want to listen to music whenever they want wherever they want, that is the whole point of downloading music and burning it to CDs. I think that if CDs were not so overpriced, people would not need to download it illegally."
Information Technology and Communication advisors for first-year dorms are not allowed to utilize file-sharing on penalty of being removed from positions. If licenses were secured with record companies, LAMP would create a venue for ITC advisors and other University students to file-share legally.
"I think it would be a cool system to have here at the University but I don't think I would utilize it because the system does not seem to have enough choice," first-year Engineering student and ITC computing advisor Sarah Hagan said. "I am a proponent of file sharing because I do not like how corporations try to make money off people. File-sharing allows people to share with each other without wasting resources that go into CD production."
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