IP: PENN REFUSES TO BAN USE OF NAPSTER ON ITS NETWORKS: Edupage, September 29 2000 [right on djf[

[Dave Farber <farber@cis.upenn.edu>]

>
>The University of Pennsylvania will not ban access to the
>music-sharing Web site Napster, the school's administration
>announced yesterday.  Penn is now one of 15 universities to
>reject a demand from the attorney for musicians and outspoken
>Napster opponents Dr. Dre and Metallica that the schools ban the
>popular but embattled service.  In a letter, Penn President
>Judith Rosen said that concerns about the restriction of free
>inquiry and expression outweighed concerns about the artists'
>intellectual property.  She also said the school would educate
>its students on the proper use of intellectual property.  The
>artists' attorney, Howard E. King, said he would seek further
>dialogue with the university regarding the decision but denied
>that his clients might sue the schools.  However, King said that
>although most schools view themselves as only intermediaries in
>this dispute because students use their computer networks to
>access Napster, even intermediaries must be held accountable for
>what they facilitate. (Philadelphia Inquirer, 28 September 2000)