Is time running out for Napster?

Time may be running out for University students to freely download MP3s over the Internet, especially from services such as Napster.

Lawyers for Metallica and Dr. Dre — two of the loudest critics of the company that they claim encourages piracy of their copyrighted work — sent a letter to President Shapiro last week asking him to put a stop to Napster use on campus.

In their letter, Metallica and Dr. Dre's lawyers asked the University to make a decision on whether to continue to allow Napster use over its network by Sept. 22.

University General Counsel Howard Ende said the administration is still considering the issue. "I'm committed to providing the greatest usage of these resources consistent with the law to students," he added.

Howard King, the lead attorney for Metallica and Dr. Dre, said in an interview yesterday that he sent the letter to about 20 universities because Napster is used heavily on college campuses. "Universities are the hotbed of Napster activity," he said. "They have the most avid music fans equipped with high speed connections."

He said he also wrote the letter because he views colleges as reasonable and forward-thinking institutions. "They have a greater appreciation for the protection of intellectual property," he added.

Napster CEO Hank Barry denounced Metallica's latest attack on the Internet music file-sharing community.

"These letters are a heavy-handed attempt by Metallica's lawyers to increase university bans as part of their effort to shut down Napster," he said in a statement.

Last April, when Metallica sued Napster, three universities that had not banned Napster use on campus were included in the lawsuit — Indiana University, University of Southern California and Yale University. The lawsuits against these three schools were dropped after they all immediately banned the software on their respective networks.

King said he hopes Princeton, just as Yale did, will realize that it is "morally, legally and ethically wrong to be a knowing participant in copyright theft."

Indiana University spokesman Christopher Simpson said his school banned Napster because it seemed the most reasonable action to take. "The legal issues surrounding sites like Napster are unclear," he said. "We felt like until the legal atmosphere was more clear, the prudent thing to do was to install filters so that the site couldn't be accessed."

Princeton could also be sued by Metallica and Dr. Dre. According to King, there is a clause in the lawsuit that allows for more schools to be added if their lack of action regarding Napster appears to be encouraging music piracy among their students.

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Nevertheless, King said the letter was not meant to be a threat. He said it is a "respectful request to protect the intellectual property rights of artists."

Among the 20 schools that received the letter are Harvard, Columbia, Stanford and Boston universities. King said these schools represent a "cross-section of prominent schools that had not banned Napster."

Harvard spokesman Joe Wrinn said his administration also has not made a decision about Napster use. He said, however, that "at a university, we are wary of putting impediments to vehicles to the Internet."

He added that the laws surrounding the Napster case are ambiguous. "We encourage our students not to break the law but in this case there isn't a law yet," he said.

King disagreed. He perceives the laws surrounding "digital delivery" — or MP3 swapping — as clear. He cites two rulings: the original August injunction against Napster in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals which was stayed, and the more recent decision which found MP3.com — a Napster competitor — as having knowingly pirated copyrighted music.

Napster could have a tough road ahead of it. Not only could it possibly be banned from schools like Princeton, but oral arguments for its next trial begin Oct. 2.

King said he is "confident the court of appeals will find the same way in the Napster appeal" as it had before.