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| Filtering network traffic related to the
popular Internet tool Napster went into full swing last week at Indiana
University. Napster allows computer users to search out and play music in
the MP3 format.
But IU isn’t alone in imposing traffic reductions, according to a story in the Feb. 11 issue of the Chronicle of Higher Education. A growing number of universities similarly have cut off access. Among them are Oregon State, Boston, North Carolina State and Northwestern universities, and the universities of New Hampshire, Pittsburgh and Texas. "Our network usage analysis clearly documents that the use of this particular computer application is consuming an inordinate amount of IU’s technical resources," said Mark Bruhn, IU’s information technology policy officer. "Although the university’s data network capacity is substantial, it is a finite resource, and capacity must be maintained and secured for mission critical applications and activities." Bruhn noted that users who have installed Napster on their workstation should also be aware that this program, and others like it, can easily be modified in ways that could compromise the security of personal files on the workstation and the integrity of the campus network and other computing resources. University Information Technology Services (UITS) continuously monitors the amount of traffic on the university’s data networks. Since early November 1999, usage of IU’s Internet connections has increased dramatically. Research conducted by University Information Technology Services found that the traffic has increased on all IU campuses, but primarily emanates from computers in the Halls of Residence and Greek houses on the IU Bloomington campus. A significant amount of the increase in Internet traffic was due to the use of Napster. "Analysis of network traffic patterns indicated that during peak use of the application, Napster was consuming fully 50 percent of the IUB Internet connection," said Brian Voss, IU associate vice president for telecommunications. "It appears that most users are unaware that the Napster client actually turns their desktop computers into Internet servers." The filtering is in accordance with IU’s Information Technology Facilitative/Fair Usage Policy. IU students, faculty or staff who are required to share or collect music files as part of their academic or employment activities should contact their campus computing support center to make appropriate arrangements to facilitate their activities.
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| Editor’s note: Information for this story was provided by the IU Office of the Vice President for Information Technology. |
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