MSU made the right decision by not pursuing the removal of Napster from its server.

An attorney for rapper Dr. Dre and rock band Metallica sent a letter to MSU and at least 10 other universities requesting them to block Napster on their computer systems.

MSU should not be put in the position of having to police the Internet use of its students. To monitor what students do online is an invasion of privacy.

Napster use is not yet illegal. The fate of the music file-sharing site is being decided in the federal 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

MSU does have a responsibility to comply with copyright regulations, but the legality of Napster is unclear at this point. The university does not have the obligation nor the right to keep students from participating in online activities that are currently legal.

If MSU were to ban Napster, students would soon find loopholes in the system and find a way to continue to download the free music. The university would have to come up with even more intrusive methods to monitor Internet use. The pleas of a few angry recording artists are not reason enough for universities to infringe on the Internet freedom to which students are accustomed.

If Napster is declared illegal, it will be shut down with no action taken by MSU. It is up to the courts to fairly review this case and make a final decision, not university officials. If these Napster opponents were sure they were going to win their case, they would just wait it out.

Last spring, three universities were added to a lawsuit against Napster, and were not dropped from the lawsuit until they blocked Napster from their computer systems. This latest round of letters is another attempt by Napster opponents to bully universities into siding with them.

Napster use is prevalent among college students, especially those with access to the university’s high-speed connections. Napster opponents are hoping they can reduce the traffic on this site by preventing its primary users from logging on.

Record companies are fighting a losing battle. Even if Napster use is made illegal, students will find a way to use technology to listen to music for free. Instead of using their energies fighting this technology, these companies should develop their own ways to distribute music in the new way the public is demanding.

While listeners are demanding new ways to hear tunes, Napster has had no tangible effect on record sales. The service boomed in popularity last year, while record sales that year were higher than ever. People are still purchasing records in droves.

Not all recording artists are against the Internet music-sharing site. Napster gives new artists a chance to reach the public, and allows listeners to sample music before they buy it. Listeners can discover an interest in a type of music or an artist whose album they would have never purchased in the record store.

Other universities that receive similar requests from Napster opponents should follow MSU and let the courts decide if the service should be banned.