“Several issues about Napster’s long-term viability at Cornell have emerged, and these must be considered carefully before the Student Assembly decides to fund another year of the program. It’s free for now, but beyond 2005 funding would come from the student activity fee — of which an estimated $20 per student would go to the online music service,” reads The Cornell Daily Sun.

“The major problem brought up by many students is that Napster is currently incompatible with Macs, meaning that 6 to 7 percent of the Cornell population is unable to take advantage of a service that they will be forced to pay for if it is extended beyond May 2005. Perhaps even more troubling is that the most popular portable MP3 player, Apple’s iPod, also does not work with Napster. An estimated 50-70 percent of Cornell students with such players have iPods, according to Cornell Information Technologies,” reads The Cornell Daily Sun.

“It is imperative, then, that the S.A. consider all the options seriously when it comes time to decide on renewing the Napster service. S.A. president Erica Kagan ’05 has already voiced concerns about Cornell’s Mac users, which is heartening. Alternative choices do exist: Apple’s iTunes on Campus was just introduced at Duke. In any case, the debate must continue in this year of no-strings-attached access to free music. But when it comes time to pay up, let’s hope the final decision adds up,” reads The Cornell Daily Sun.

Full article here.

MacDailyNews Take: Get with the program, Cornell! Why would a first-rate university institute a second-rate service like Napster when upwards of 70% of your students “with such players” have iPods and can’t use Napster-purchased music on them without first tediously burning CDs and importing for the iPod? Where do you think the CD they just burned goes? Probably straight down the hall to another guy or gal in the dorm. So much for quelling piracy! Cornell’s students deserve Apple’s critically-acclaimed, market-leading iTunes, which works for Windows users, Mac users, and iPod users.

Related MacDailyNews articles:
Several universities sign with Napster 2.0 – July 20, 2004
Napster schools to Mac-using students: bend over and take it – September 04, 2004
Why are Cornell’s Mac students being forced to pay for useless Napster? – September 07, 2004

[UPDATE: 2:50PM ET - rewrote the MDN Take as per reader feedback below.]