BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Indiana University has banned students from using an Internet search tool for the popular MP3 music program due to persistent cyberspace traffic jams.
University computing officials set up a filter last month that began blocking the use of Napster, an Internet tool for searching out and playing music in the MP3 format.
The Napster application for MP3, which allows users to instantly hear music over the Internet, had become so popular that at times its users accounted for 55 percent of the traffic on the university's computer network, says Mark Bruhn of the university's Information and Technology Services.
The heavy use slowed down other users and was beginning to interfere with research and work-related use on the network.
"This is 55 percent that can't be used for something else," Bruhn says.
Napster is a popular Internet tool for searching out and playing music in the MP3 format, which makes music files smaller and easier to distribute over the Internet while still delivering CD-quality sound. It allows Internet users to download music and play it on their computers or special MP3 players.
Indiana joins a growing number of universities that are confronting bandwidth traffic problems by banning the use of Napster. Northwestern, North Carolina State and the University of Texas have all set up filters preventing students from using Napster over their networks.
Napster users function as an online community, making MP3 files in their own computers available to each other using Napster applications. When a user searches online for an MP3, Napster seeks out the request amongother users. The search continues until the user commands Napster to quit looking.
"Even if you click on the 'x' in the upper right corner of the screen, the search will continue," he said. "Some people don't know this."
The Napster filter will block anyone using Napster from accessing the Internet through IU's connection, including those dialing in from off campus.
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