The lawyer acting for the rock group Metallica and
rapper/producer Dr. Dre in copyright actions against Napster, sent
letters to several US universities asking them to ban access to the
service. However, officials at Stanford University and the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, among others, said that,
while they do not condone copyright infringement, they would not
monitor or limit access to the internet.
A spokesman for the University of California said: “Just as a
copying machine can be used to reproduce written works illegally,
so can Napster be used for illegal purposes. However, both also
serve many valuable and legitimate purposes.”
Stanford University promised to take action if alerted to any
specific incidents of copyright.
The case being brought by Metallica and Dr. Dre against Napster
is independent of further behind the case being brought by the
Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) against Napster.
The RIAA case is expected to return to court on 2nd October for
opening arguments.
