Rapagnani: Legality, bandwidth concerns with Napster
KIFLIN TURNER
News Writer
The decision to put the computer program Napster on moratorium is causing an ongoing controversy at universities all across the country. Napster is an application that allows its users to share mp3 files in a unique file-sharing system.
"I have a committee that advises me on computer information technology policies and procedures on campus — comprised of students, faculty and staff members," said Larry Rapagnani, assistant provost of Information Technolo-gies, who emphasized that it was not his decision to block Napster.
"There are a couple of reasons [why the University decided to block Napster] — one is a security issue that we do not totally understand, the second is a bandwidth utilization issue, or anything associated with accessing network information, and lastly, we can't prove anything, but trading in Napster space is typically trading music files, or mp3 files, that because of our past history with mp3s here on campus and other campuses really deals with illegally copied music," Rapagnani said.
Napster users are able to copy and download files from the hard drives of other Napster users.
"We do not know that for a fact, but it is highly suspect that Napster was put up for the free and easy exchange of mp3 files," said Rapagnani. The Record Industry Association of America has notified the University that people on campus, primarily students, have these files, infringing on copyright policies.
"We did not want really frivolous use of the Internet to get in the way of doing real business because we design and build infrastructure to take care of the business needs on campus," said Rapagnani.
The "Responsible Use of Information Technologies" document produced by the Office of Information Technologies includes in its document that some "non-commercial uses are permitted by the faculty, staff, and students, if they are not excessive, do not interfere with the performance of any faculty, staff member, or student duties, do not interfere with the efficient operation of the University or its computing resources."
"We recognize that frivolous use goes on. Frivolous use in and by itself is not a problem," said Rapagnani. The problem is, he said, exists when this use consumes 40 percent of available bandwidth. Rapagnani stated that traffic is highest when students in the residence halls tend to use the network — from 10 p.m. to 2:30 a.m.
"We still want to afford you the opportunity to do the exploration, and sometimes those things conflict with one another, especially when one overwhelms the other," Rapagnani said.
Rapagnani helped to establish ResNet on campus in 1997, an intra-residence campus network system that allows students access to the Internet 700 times faster than a telephone line and modem.
"We are entirely hopeful that we build this infrastructure so that you can use ResNet and you are advancing your intellectual knowledge," said Rapagnani. Rapagnani is well aware, however, that ResNet is not used for purely academic purposes.
"We also know that you explore, which is great — we just need to couch the exploration part in some sort of parameter space such that you still value an ethical set of principles that govern your behavior," he said. "We are here to get you guys an education — that is what we want, that is what we are about and we want you to enjoy your experience in doing so."
Bandwidth utilization abilities are significantly diminished when Napster is in use, making it much more difficult for students, faculty and staff to access pertinent information.
"Fetching resources off the Internet could take longer; in fact, in some cases it can be blocked out entirely," said Rapagnani.
"We are trying to generate more bandwidth for things like DARTing — plus we are getting close to finals and the intensity of research tends to go up quite a bit," said Rapagnani.
The actions of the University were taken at a crucial time in which students will need DART information for fall registration, as well as research information to help prepare for finals.
"We need to make sure there are resources available for you to get enrolled, if you need to do research — we need to make sure you have the capacity and the tools available to do that. We do not want some other use to impede that," said Rapagnani. Above all, Rapagnani stated that the academic mission of the University clearly outweighs the effects of placing Napster on moratorium.
"Obviously our intent is not censorship. We are an academic institution and we need to foster exploration and dialogue and counter viewpoints. But the primary mission of course, is our academic mission," Rapagnani said. While Rapagnani does not endorse a long-term ban or censorship of Napster, he believes that a short-term moratorium makes sense and will expedite the communication of academic information.
"We do not want to get into the censorship business — that is not our strong-suit, in fact it is counter-cultural to being an institution of higher education," Rapagnani said.
While Rapagnani is unsure of the measures that will be taken in the future with regulating the use of Napster, he is confident that in the fall things will be different.
"We are planning network upgrades this summer while you all are gone to enhance that capacity of our on-campus network," Rapagnani said.
The decision to block Napster presently was a well-planned and thought-out decision, according to Rapagnani, who claimed that a great deal of organization and planing must take place to implement future applications, designing a network, and upgrading to acquire more bandwidth
"What you need to do is take a more holistic approach, so it is just not like flipping a switch and you get more bandwidth — it is not quite that easy. You have to design these things and that takes time," said Rapagnani.
Every school in America is wrestling with how to deal with Napster, Rapagnani said.
"We are not intent on putting Napster out of business; we are more interested in understanding how we have a relationship with this entity and how we can still provide you access for exploration purposes to do whatever you want couched within the ethical confines that hopefully you are operating within, and still allow you to do the things reasonable students will want to do," said Rapagnani.
The time spent over the summer organizing and upgrading will give the University time to review plausible options that will hopefully establish a more comprehensive relationship with Napster.
"We just want to take some time to study it and do what is effective for Notre Dame and do what is right for you," Rapagnani said. Napster has recently received attacks from the RIAA, but since the mp3 files do not reside on the Napster server, and Napster does not charge fees for its services, Napster claims that the complaints have no applicable legal grounds.
All News Stories for Friday, April 7, 2000
