Napster has no legitimate use
letter to the editor
In Peter Godlewski's letter regarding Napster, he claims that Napster is not illegal. This is true — owning and running the Napster software is indeed not illegal, currently. The purpose of Napster, however, is indeed illegal.
I am no fan of RIAA or like organizations that try to stifle competition and innovation. However, I must agree that under current law, trading MP3 files is illegal. This is Napster's purpose — to trade MP3 files.
Some might argue that trading MP3 files is just like trading copies on cassette tape, claiming that's not illegal, but it is. The owner of an album is allowed to make copies for his own use, not for distribution to others. This is illegal.
As for the security issue, I would suggest that anyone arguing that using Napster does not present any security issues peruse www.rootshell.org to see how hackers have abused other "benign" programs.
Finally, Mr. Goldewski makes some interesting points regarding bandwidth. Contrary to popular opinion, bandwidth does not grow on trees, and cannot be deployed with great ease. Signifigant bandwidth(T3,OC-3,OC-12) costs upwards of $50,000 a month for a T3(45Mbs), and OC-3 is about five times as expensive. That is a lot of money.
The University does not maintain a network for leisure activities, it exists to support legitmate academic endeavors, and if you can use it to have fun, fine. But don't get in the way of those that really need it.
Unfourtunately, I give the impression of being on the side of "the man," but really I feel that some reality needs to be injected with Mr. Goldewski's comments. Naptster has no legitimate use and does pose some security concerns. The University, being a private institution, has every right to block its use to provide network capacity to those who really need it.
Jim Regovich
Class of '97
April 4, 2000
All Viewpoint Stories for Wednesday, April 5, 2000
