Gartner Group, Inc. polled 50 of the nation's public and private higher education administrations and found that Napster on campus networks is raising several moral and legal issues for colleges and universities as students begin a new academic year.
According to the report, administrators are quickly making the ban/no ban decision and preparing to implement their school policies. Those policies must cover legal issues concerning copyright, censorship, network capacity concerns and moral issues.
With Napster's bid to stay in business still alive at least into September, it means that students will have a chance to use college and university networks to download and exchange more MP3 music files. As college IT departments prepare for large traffic loads because of Napster, universities must address liability concerns.
"I would not want to be the university president who neglected to update the school policy regarding music downloads this year," said Robert Labatt, principal analyst for Gartner's e-Business Services group. "Long legal battles can be costly, and one school could easily be singled out to set legal precedent this year."
"Schools must consider the implementation of ethical standards and policy guidelines, even written agreements, that explicitly state that copyright infringement is illegal and will not be tolerated," added P.J. McNealy, another Gartner analyst. "Corporate managers should learn from the experiences of their collegiate counterparts and ensure that copyright policies within their own organisations are created and adhered to."
In the UK, any university or business should have an internet use policy. Failure to have such a policy could be considered negligent. This policy should state that downloading a copyright work, such as an MP3 file, without permission of the copyright owner, is an infringement of copyright and therefore prohibited. Such a policy should be brought to the attention of all students or employees. You can find out more about internet and e-mail policies, and download one for your use, here.
