Napster II, iTunes at Emory U?
p2pnet.net News:- Kevin Rosenbaum wants to be president of the student government association at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.
So, What’s a good plank to run on? – he wondered to himself.
Then it hit him – Brought Free Music Downloading to Emory. Starting Fall 2005. Either Napster or iTunes
So says the Emory Wheel, going on:
“Rosenbaum is a member of the Committee for Free Music Downloading, along with such notable administration members as Senior Vice President and Dean of Campus Life John Ford and Chief Information Officer and Vice Provost for Information Technology Don Harris.”
He’s quoted as speaking for the committee to the effect, ‘The committee agrees that Emory University has to have free music downloading, but we have not decided which firm we want to go with yet.”
Free, huh? Not quite.
But anyway, “The idea of downloading free music without the potential of being slapped on the Recording Industry Association of America’s bad list is something many Emory students fantasize about,” the story goes on.
Do they really? Fantasize?
“And although free music downloading hasn’t arrived yet, Rosenbaum wasn’t just blowing smoke, it says.
But which should Emory choose?
Good question.
Decisions, decisions.
“And for that matter, are either of these services any good?”
Another good question.
“The first thing to keep in mind is that nothing in life is free, and that both programs have their catches,” the writer, David Marek, goes on.
“Napster On-Campus offers students ‘tethered downloading,’ [read ‘rental’] a service that allows a student to keep the songs he downloads until his subscription runs out. After this, he is unable to access those songs. If a student wants to burn a song to a CD or an MP3 player, he will have to play the flat fee that Napster’s online music store offers.
“iTunes’ campus program is significantly different from Napster’s. Currently, iTunes only offers the iTunes Volume Discount Program, which would allow for the University to purchase large amounts of music at a discounted price. But Ford said there could be possible negotiations with iTunes to make this program more workable for students.”
But, Marek observes quite correctly, “The most important aspect of any online music store is its selection. If the online music store only offers Top-40 artists, most college students are likely to turn to illegal downloading.”
Napster and iTunes both have, “an impressive array of music to choose from” with the iTunes’ as the best, but …
… “Napster and iTunes are humbled when compared to the music selection of illegal person to person file sharing programs like Kazaa, Limewire and Soulseek.”
And there you have it, although Kazaa, Limewire and Soulseek might not be too happy at being described as “illegal person to person file sharing programs”.
Adds Mafrek, “One thing is certain: Both Napster and iTunes will have to greatly expand their collections if they are to compete with the free P2P file sharing programs.
“Only when songs are cheaper and more accessible will the hard-line, illegal P2P users give up their combination of good music and lawlessness.”
Any Emory students out there?
Stay tuned.
Something you think we should know? tips[at]p2pnet.net
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See:-
free music – University considers near-equal P2P media, The Emory Wheel, February 18, 2005
February 19th, 2005 at 1:36 am
I’ve posted my feedback to my own school newspaper, and i’ve submitted editorials on this subject (none have ever printed of course, they really suck up to school administration)
but here it is:
This feedback is long, but i think it warranted. I urge those who moderate this before posting that they consider repetition in a future publication of the wheel. I request it be given a full read before being dismissed as “just someone arguing for a free lunch”.
I’ve kept close eye on the ongoing battles over p2p, and i don’t appreciate this blanket labeling of an entire technology as “illegal”. The 9th district and circuit courts have both ruled that p2p nets are legal because, much like the VCR before them, there are substantial non-infringing uses of p2p nets, and many uses which are arguably fair uses (i have 1.5 wks of foreign and out of print music which attest to that). Further, the audio home recording act of 1992 made clear that noncommercial trading of music was legal, the only reason why doing so over p2p is not is because of a loophole in the act’s definition of “digital audio recording”.
The school is protected under the safe harbor provisions of the digital millennium copyright act, and I believe it had no excuse blanket banning p2p networks which have many legal uses (ex: bit torrent used for linux and political videos). The administration decided to step in and make our student’s decisions for them on a controversial issue in which they had no business … they “legislated morality”, but I didn’t make too big a stink then because it’s their right to do what they want with their network, and it wasn’t costing me anything.
It’s different now, now I have to pay for something i don’t want to buy. This is a free market society. There is nothing in campus policy preventing people from subscribing to itunes or napster if they want it. Theyll end up paying for it in tuition, so why not just let them pay for it as is without involving people who dont. I disagree on multiple grounds with the idea of compulsory payment to music stores. For one, they encase their files in DRM, which represents a dangerous and orwellian principle that corporations be allowed to control the minutia of our lives, and I personally prefer not to fund any endeavors which are predicated on the idea that you are no longer allowed to own and govern what you buy . I also disagree with the RIAA’s war on technology , and don’t want a single dime of my money going to them through any channels (i don’t want their music for free either), and that includes indirectly through my tuition or housing fees. I don’t appreciate the idea that if i refuse to pay this (for lack of a warmer term) ransom, i will be denied the education I invested in.
As a collector of obscure, independent, and hard to find media, and an avid net addict, I can vouch for the fact that itunes compares to general p2p technology as tears do to the ocean. The fansubs i collect (which are symbiotically tolerated and allowed by the anime industry because of the publicity it provides) don’t come through services either.
I say the proper course of action is simple. The RIAA has announced it will be targeting elite universities. I say free the network of it’s restrictions, let people who use the p2p nets for legal or inconsequential purposes do so, and let people who want to take the risk do so at their own risk. The only thing Emory is legally responsible for in the case of such infringement is to report the name of the perpetrator.
Either way I personally intend to head this off at the pass. I will not be applying for housing for the 2005 year, but that doesn’t help those who can’t afford that.
February 19th, 2005 at 1:50 am
The last line is particularly painful comming from emory wheel staff.
I didn’t think people of this calibre were capable of such sycophantic slanderous copy.
They manage in just a couple lines of text to thoroughly and baselessly slander an entire class of early technology adopters.. their own peers!
February 21st, 2005 at 7:25 am
Good for you. But just for the record, downloading out of print music might be legal, but downloading foriegn music certainly is NOT. That includes anime fan subs, just because its not licensed in the USA does not mean you are not stealing it. The world is not in the USA, the USA is in the World.