The software company Roxio purchased the famous file-sharing program for about $5.2 million dollars last week. The Recording Industry Association of America is satisfied that Napster's old ways of allowing the illegal downloading of copyrighted material are no more. Roxio will now be a subscription-based service, and a percentage of its profits will go to artists and record labels. "

Cary Sherman, president and general counsel of RIAA, said he thinks Roxio is a legitimate company.

Gary Augustson, Pennsylvania State University information technology provost, said Roxio is the model needed for legally acquiring Internet files.

Since Napster's demise in 2001, many students now use alternative programs like Kazaa and Morpheus that operate the same way Napster did. RIAA is calling on universities nationwide, including Penn State, to stop the large-scale use of illegal peer-to-peer Internet file sharing.

Sherman said universities such as Penn State are contributing to an increasing number of copyright law infringements that are hurting the record and entertainment industry. The RIAA has evidence of massive violations occurring at universities across the country, Sherman added.

"The university wouldn't want to send mixed messages of condoning illegal filing sharing," he said.

Penn State President Graham Spanier will be co-chairing a committee to study intellectual property issues and their effect on higher education and the entertainment industry. The committee will include the RIAA, the Motion Picture Association of America and others.

Sherman said music consumption is at record highs, but not many people are paying for it. He said last year record sales decreased by 5 percent, and the overall music market went down by 10 percent.

Augustson said there is a possibility Penn State could subscribe to a service like Roxio and make the service available to students in order to ensure students are downloading material legally. This would only be done if the university determines offering such a service would serve an educational purpose, he added.

Penn State does not monitor the content of what is downloaded through its network, although it does monitor users' volume of downloading. Augustson said if there is valid evidence of music piracy, the Office of Judicial Affairs would take action.