Like this thinking...Purdue needs a smarter approach to downloads
Starting in January, Penn State will offer its student body access to Napster's new service to on-campus students. The service will be paid for by student information technology fees and offers students living in the residence halls the ability to access unlimited streaming audio and restricted downloads. In order to download permanently, however, students at PSU will have to pay Napster's 99-cent fee.
Not to be outdone, Purdue University is looking into similar services for its students. But if the University does decide to implement a legal file-sharing service for students, Purdue should learn from the mistakes and shortcomings of Penn State's plans.
First of all, if the University decides to pay for any service through the use of student fees, the University should get the full backing of the student body before signing a contract with any service. Students are likely to want the service available to everyone — not just the students who live on campus. This, especially, if the funds to pay for the service is distributed equally across the student body.
Furthermore, better service options than those available to Penn State students are a necessity. Remember, this service will still be competing with services students may already subscribe to, as well as less-than-legal means of downloading files. Unlimited streaming audio isn't a good selling point: www.shoutcast.com as well as iTunes Player's radio feature offer users free streaming audio already. Additionally, students are likely to want their downloads to be permanent. If they aren't, burning files to CDs or uploading them onto MP3 players becomes difficult, if not impossible. And since these are the most common uses of MP3s, not be able to perform either function would make any file-sharing service useless.
If there was a small, one-semester fee for such a service that allowed downloading of permanent files — even if there were reasonable limits to how much one could download — the service would be much better.
The issue is certainly a pertinent one with the Recording Industry Association of America continuing to sue file-sharers — a majority of whom are college students. Offering free file-sharing services to students is certainly a benefit. But before the University commits to a service, it should take into consideration some of the concerns students have, as well as make sure that they are committing to the best service available.
The Editorial Board is: Jason Tomcsi, Matt Poston, Tom McHenry, Yuri Victor, Michael Williams
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