University eyes Napster lawsuits
■ l he University observes the developing legal issues with
MP3 providers to see where the lawwillgofrom here
By Simone Ripke
Oregon Daily Emerald
Napster, the popular MP3
provider among students at the
University and across the nation,
has come under fire once again.
On April 13, Metallica and oth
er music artists filed a lawsuit
against Napster and the Universi
ty of Southern California, Yale
University and Indiana Universi
ty, which all allow their students
access to the MP3 provider. The
suit alleges that the company pro
motes piracy by allowing users to
trade copyrighted songs at no cost.
Users can download songs from
the Napster Internet site encoded
in the popular MP3 format direct
ly from their computers.
The suit against Yale was
dropped when the university
agreed to ban its students from ac
cess to the browser until legal is
sues have been resolved.
Some universities across the na
tion, including Oregon State,
banned access to Napster earlier
this year because the browser was
taking up too much computer
bandwidth, not for piracy issues.
More than just an MP3 provider,
Napster is an integrated browser
and communications system that
allows users to download music
for free at the click of a mouse.
Paul Anthony, CEO and
founder of Rumblefish Records, a
Eugene digital record company,
said the use of Napster has be
come popular among students,
but users do not understand that
they are hurting their favorite
artists when they download their
tunes fpr free.
“Napster is pretty detrimental
to the [advancement] of the digital
record industry,” Anthony said.
“People need to understand that if
you steal music from artists that
you really, really love, you’re hurt
ing them. I love Lenny Kravitz, but
I wouldn’t on my worst day go to
Napster and steal his songs.”
The fear that fans are obtaining
too many free copies of songs on
line is exactly what led Metallica
and its labels E/M Ventures and
Creeping Death Music to team up
with the Recording Industry Asso
ciation of America (RIAA).
Rap artist Dr. Dre threatened sim
ilar legal action Friday for copyright
infringement if Napster did not re
move his
songs from
the site.
For now,
however,
Napster
will remain
accessible
to Universi
ty students
looking for
a quick and easy way to download
music.
Maureen Shine, deputy director
of communications at the Univer
sity, said the University is aware
of the controversy surrounding
Napster and the Computing Cen
ter is keeping an eye on any new
developments.
“It’s just an issue that we are
watching at this point,” Shine said.
Joanne Hugi, director of the
Computing Center, said her staff is
observing the situation, but to this
point no action hqs been necessary.
Students interviewed about
their Napster involvement de
clined to go on the record for fear
of legal trouble.
Hugi said she hopes that any
recording artist concerned with
possible copyright infringements
would approach the University
before taking legal action.
“If somebody brought to our at
tention a breach of copyright law,
we would deal with that,” she said.
She added that if the University
banned Napster, it is not clear how
it would be done. She explained
that Napster was a “moving tar
get” and difficult to ban access to.
Anthony and Hugi said that the
problem with Napster is only the
tip of the iceberg. A number of
emerging companies are similar to
Napster, and that’s why Anthony
thinks it could make more sense
to sue the users of Napster rather
than the company itself.
“That’s the kind of thing that
needs to happen for people to
know that they can’t take our mu
sic,” Anthony said.
In fact, this has already begun in
the case of a student who was re
cently convicted of violating the
No Electronic Theft Act. The NET
Act covers criminal copyright in
fringement and aims to include
gray areas in past copyright acts
that provided a niche for Napster
and similar companies.
Napster does ask its users to
abide by copyright laws. The com
pany’s terms of use states: “Nap
ster respects copyright law and ex
pects our users to do the same ...
As a condition to your account
with Napster, you agree that you
will not use Napster’s service to
infringe the intellectual property
rights of others in any way.”
To Anthony, however, those
conditions do not excuse that
Napster provides MP3 formatted
music in the first place. He said
that this compares to providing al
cohol to minors and then telling
them it’s illegal to consume it.
Anthony said he understands
that fans just want to get their fa
vorite songs, even though they
don’t realize the harm they might
cause by downloading it at no cost.
“People don’t know what
they’re doing,” Anthony said.
“People just love the music.”
EWEB considers new career path
■Supporters say a local
provider would be able to
better meet the needs of
Eugene residents
By Josh Ryneal
Oregon Daily Emerald
The Eugene Water and Electric
Board proposes to enter the
telecommunications business,
but voters will have the opportu
nity in the May 16 primary elec
tion to decide whether that path is
a sensible one.
Measure 20-30 would amend
EWEB’s charter, allowing the util
ity to begin laying out plans to
provide telecommunications
service, including cable, phone
and Internet access. Because
EWEB is owned by the city, the
utility needs the go-ahead from
voters to make any moves into the
telecommunications industry.
If the measure passes, EWEB
would complete the planning and
put the results up for public re
view. After a review, the utility
would refer another measure to
voters to fund the venture. The
project will begin if the second
measure passes but will be termi
nated if the measure doesn’t pass.
Water and electric rates would
not be affected by the passage of
Measure 20-30, EWEB Commis
sioner Dorothy Anderson said.
Opponents say the measure
would grant EWEB excessively
broad and permanent powers, but
supporters say the measure could
be the first step toward providing
broad, low-cost telecommunica
tions access to Eugene.
Liz Cawood, No On Measure
20-30 campaign spokeswoman,
said the charter amendment could
have unpredictable effects in the
future.
The current EWEB board of
commissioners has made commit
ments to the community, Cawood
said, “but a new board could
come along and do something
completely different, and future
EWEB boards have not made any
commitments.”
Mark Herbert, a member of an
other political committee oppos
ing the measure, said he doesn't
oppose the “philosophical issue
of broader access.” The problem,
he said, is EWEB’s lack of experi
ence in telecommunications and
the absence of any concrete plan.
“EWEB is asking for broad
change without accountability,”
.Herbert said. “I have nothing
against EWEB, but without a plan
or dialogue with voters, I can’t
support this measure.”
Supporters, on the other hand,
say that the utility would work
closely with the community to as
sess the need for different telecom
munications options and discuss
possible ways to meet that need.
Anderson said that EWEB is in
a better position than bigger
telecommunications companies
to serve Eugene because of its
closeness to the community.
“We are based in Eugene, we
have open meetings, and we are
easy to get a hold of, unlike bigger
providers like AT&T and Sprint,”
she said.
If -EWEB expanded into
telecommunications, Anderson
said, it could provide more than
just cable or Internet service.
Measure
20-30
The ballot measure
would amend the
Eugene Water and
Electric Board’s
charter to allow it to begin work
on becominga telecommunica
tions provider.
Supporters say this measure will
cost taxpayers nothing and will al
low EWEB to begin exploring
telecommunications ventures to
provide Eugene residents better
and cheaper phone, cable and In
ternet services.
Opponents say the measure would
give EWEB excessively broad pow
ers to expand into an industry
where it has little experience and
would let EWEB go forward with
out any concrete plan.
BALLOT
MEASURE
“Smart meters,” which could al
low EWEB customers to regulate
their own electricity use, is one
new technology the utility is in
vestigating.
“Things like this could be pos
sible if we implement this fiber
[optic] network,” Anderson said.
“We could also get a better idea of
power use.”
EWEB will hold an informa
tional meeting open to the public
to address concerns and discuss
the measure May 1 from 4 to 7
p.m. in the EWEB lobby.
This isa part in a series of articles the
Emeraldwill publish profiling local and
state ballot measuresand candidates
during the weeks leading into the May 16
Eugene primary election.
ecofeminism
in motion
TONIGHT
7 p.m.
Multicultural Center, EMU
What is ecofeminism?
How can I apply ecofeminism to my real life?
How can / he an ecofeminist activist
Discuss these questions and more
For more information, contact Alix at
the ASUO Women’s Center 346-4095.
PUBLIC LECTURE SERIES
The New Europe at the Millennium
European Union:
The Newest Developments
in Justice Matters
Peter Hobbing
Assistant to the Director General of the European
Commission on Justice and Home Affairs
Wednesday, April 26
7:30 p.m.
Knight Library Browsing Room
This lecture is sponsored by the Carlton Raymond and Wilberta
Ripley Savage Endowment for in International Relations and Peace.
For more information, call 346-1521.
University of Oregon
i
891600
WAS YOUR WRITING TEACHER
EXCEPTIONAL?
Composition
Teacher
of the Year
1999-00
Help us reward him/her.
If you have had an excellent teacher this year in an
English-Composition class (any class with a “WR” prefix),
nominate him or her for an Outstanding Composition Teacher Award.
Leave a note or a detailed letter with Mike Stamm in the
English Department (118 PLC) or mail it to Director of Composition,
Department of English, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403.
Nomination must be post marked
or submitted by Friday, April 28,2000.
For more information, call 346-391 I.
&WeMeFVel.
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(items under $1,000) ...
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