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Legal Panel Debates Restrictions on Napster

The University has no current plans to restrict students' access to Napster, panelists at a discussion on the Internet music-sharing service said yesterday.

In October, Harvard Arts and Sciences Computer Services (HASCS) limited outbound network traffic for Napster but did not restrict Napster downloads.

"We haven't received complaints, and we've sped up the network [since the limitation]," said Franklin M. Steen, director of FAS computer services.

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In late September, Harvard declined a request from Dr. Dre and Metallica to block access to Napster.

Daniel D. Moriarty, assistant provost, said the letter had argued that Harvard would be morally and ethically correct to ban Napster access.

The letter "had the clear threat of an impending lawsuit. It was a request for the university to take presumptive action," Moriarty said.

No lawsuit has been filed.

"When asked to do something by a court, of course we'll do it," Moriarty said.

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