Napster ruling affects campus

Students and staff had mixed reactions Monday to a San Francisco appeals court ruling that U.S. District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel must edit her original injunction against Napster Inc. The revision must state it only prevents the unauthorized trade of copyrighted music by users. The appeals court also ruled the company must delete from its Web site all links allowing users to exchange copyrighted material in the form of MP3 files.\nTerry Usrey, communications services director for University Information Technology Services, said the events that have occurred during the past week will not cause Napster to close.\n"I think they're going to go commercial," he said. "It's probably going to become a subscription service where users will have to pay for the material they download."\nUsrey said there is a possibility that the University might reverse its ban on Napster should the company begin charging fees to its users.\n"Obviously, the University will follow the advice of its legal counsel on the issue, and rightfully so," he said. "But I think it would be reasonable for the University to reconsider its policy on Napster if it becomes a legitimate business."\nRick Jackson, UITS applications manager, said he understands why there is so much controversy surrounding Napster, especially relating to the record companies business concerns.\n"The site can be good for artists, but only if they are paid for their material," he said.\nGraduate student Edward Herrera said he supports the court's actions.\n"It seems like the court made the right decision," he said. "This is definitely something that has to be reviewed more deeply. There are lots of users and companies involved, which makes it public domain, but copyright issues are also important."\nBut Melissa Skiles, a senior, said she disagrees with the ruling.\n"Truthfully, I don't see any point in trying to stop Napster, because what's to stop some other company from coming up and offering the same thing," she said.\nNapster will continue to operate until Patel finishes the changes to her injunction. Company founder Shawn Fanning and his attorney, Jonathan Schiller, said they plan to appeal the decision.