Quakester2000 and GristyMcFisty used our news submit to tell us that Ohio University has been chosen as a model for the Napster student music rental service. The normal service that we are privy to, runs about ten bucks a month. The university figures that it will take 5000 students, paying 3 dollars a month to just break even. They were qickly informed by the folks at Napster not to go public with the cost of the program.
| "Napster called us today and said we should not publicize the details or discuss our contract," said Sean O'Malley, spokesman Communication Network Services at OU. "The price was an idea they had suggested early on." OU is taking the commendable step of not making Napster mandatory. It's simply trying to see if enough students are willing to pay to make the service worthwhile."We just need to be careful not to lose money on it," O'Malley said. "Our state is having major budget issues, and we are a state-funded university." OU students have yet to face lawsuits from the RIAA, and peer-to-peer services are not really posing a problem to network bandwidth, O'Malley said. Still, the school hoped to be "proactive" with copyright protection. |
Another good idea the university had was to put up a survey to determine interest for the program prior to making it mandatory. Check it out, the limitations are extremely annoying. For instance, you cannot download during winter and summer breaks, only when your nose is pressed to the grindstone! This version of Napster is loaded with DRM, downloaded tracks can only be played on computer and copied 3 times. You can only listen on your computer while connected at campus, if you move the laptop off campus the music on your drive just disappears. However, tracks burned at 99 cents in addition to the monthly charge can be copied and used any way you want.
Source: The Register
