2008 Woodie Awards
Napster pilot program promises free music, but not for all
Ben Leubsdorf
Issue date: 9/6/05 Section: Campus News
In an attempt to curb illegal music downloading over the residential network, the University is offering the Napster 2.0 music service to students for free this year in a trial program.
"Brown has had a couple of problems with illegal downloading," said Sarah Saxton-Frump '07, vice president of the Undergraduate Council of Students, who was a member of the committee that recommended Napster.
Six Brown students were sued earlier this year for sharing copyrighted files by the Recording Industry Association of America.
"The RIAA has started cracking down on universities around the country ... and Brown wanted to do its best to offer a legal alternative to students," Saxton-Frump said.
The pilot program offers the Napster music service to students for the academic year, with subscriptions expiring on May 31, 2006. Students can download songs onto their computers for free using Napster, and for a fee put them on a digital music player or compact disc, a service called Napster To Go. Downloaded songs cannot be played after the subscription expires, though students will have the option of purchasing the service themselves.
Napster is "the best we could offer at this point" in terms of "a legitimate alternative to illegal file sharing," said David Greene, vice president for Campus Life and Student Services.
The Herald reported in February that a committee drawn from Computing and Information Services, Campus Life and Student Services and UCS met with representatives from four music services: Rhapsody, Cdigix, Ruckus and Napster.
"There was strong consensus" among the group of staff and students "that Napster was the best service at this time," Greene said.
"Napster had the most to offer Brown," said Brian Bidadi '06, UCS president. But, he said, "depending on the feedback we get from students, we can go in a different direction."
"Napster seemed to make sense for a pilot program," Saxton-Frump agreed, noting its ease of use and large music library of 1.5 million songs.
"Brown has had a couple of problems with illegal downloading," said Sarah Saxton-Frump '07, vice president of the Undergraduate Council of Students, who was a member of the committee that recommended Napster.
Six Brown students were sued earlier this year for sharing copyrighted files by the Recording Industry Association of America.
"The RIAA has started cracking down on universities around the country ... and Brown wanted to do its best to offer a legal alternative to students," Saxton-Frump said.
The pilot program offers the Napster music service to students for the academic year, with subscriptions expiring on May 31, 2006. Students can download songs onto their computers for free using Napster, and for a fee put them on a digital music player or compact disc, a service called Napster To Go. Downloaded songs cannot be played after the subscription expires, though students will have the option of purchasing the service themselves.
Napster is "the best we could offer at this point" in terms of "a legitimate alternative to illegal file sharing," said David Greene, vice president for Campus Life and Student Services.
The Herald reported in February that a committee drawn from Computing and Information Services, Campus Life and Student Services and UCS met with representatives from four music services: Rhapsody, Cdigix, Ruckus and Napster.
"There was strong consensus" among the group of staff and students "that Napster was the best service at this time," Greene said.
"Napster had the most to offer Brown," said Brian Bidadi '06, UCS president. But, he said, "depending on the feedback we get from students, we can go in a different direction."
"Napster seemed to make sense for a pilot program," Saxton-Frump agreed, noting its ease of use and large music library of 1.5 million songs.