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Students in Brown residence halls to have free access to Napster
Students who live in University residence halls will have free access to digital music through Napster. Brown worked closely with Campus Action Network, an industry group, to arrange the one-year pilot project. PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Life in Brown University residence halls will have a new soundtrack for the 2005-06 academic year. Beginning today, Thursday, Sept. 1, 2005, students in dormitories will have free desktop access to digital music through Napster. The Office of Campus Life and Student Services will conduct a one-year pilot project to provide students with a convenient and legal way to access 1.5 million titles from the Napster library. Students who live in University residence halls will be able to listen to streaming audio and download songs to their computers free of charge. They will also be able to purchase songs for burning to a CD as any Napster client would. Brown worked closely with Campus Action Network, a music industry group, to arrange the one-year pilot project. “Students regularly access digital music,” said David Greene, vice president for campus life and student services. “This pilot project will allow us to determine whether this type of service would be well used, promote legal downloading, and provide a significant benefit to students who live on campus.” The Napster arrangement was selected by a group of students representing the Undergraduate Council of Students, with administrators from campus life and the Office of Computing and Information Services. That group interviewed and tested products and proposals from five vendors of downloadable music services. “Network administrators on campuses across the country have been very concerned about the potential for illegal file-sharing of copyrighted music on university networks,” said Ellen Waite-Franzen, vice president for computing and information services. “By offering the service free of charge and by involving students in selecting the vendor, we believe this project will prove to be a significant step forward.” Campus Action Network (CAN) is a music industry-wide effort led by SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT and other record companies. CAN’s principal objective is to ensure that students have access to safe, legitimate digital music services, and it is working to support the launch of legitimate music services on campuses around the country. CAN provides universities with introductions, information and support on a broad array of online music services. CAN does not recommend or endorse any one service or technology to institutions. ###### News Service Home | Top of File | e-Subscribe | Brown Home Page | ||||