The University of Indiana, after being served with legal papers for allowing students to use Napster, which encouraged copyright infrigement on the part of music by Metallica, has given in to the pressure and blocked access to the highly popular application.

Indiana Univeristy became the second educational institution, out of a total of 3 that have been named as defendants, to block access to Napster since being sued by heavy metal rock band Metallica. The group previously stated that they would drop Yale from the lawsuit and after todays actions by Indiana, they plan to drop them as listed defendants as well. Metallica said in a statement, "the band appreciates that Indiana University like Yale are supporting the right of copywritten material and protecting intellectual property."

A spokesman for Indiana University has said that he believes that the school has no liability by allowing access to such sites, as Napster, but the individuals may. He went on to say, "We now believe, however, that our faculty, staff and students could incur legal exposure if they use this technology. Until those unresolved legal issues are clarified, it seems prudent to block the site."

This is just so sad, to see that Metallica has been able to push around large educational institutions like this. Especially surprising was the fact that Yale, with a stellar law school that they have there, had decided to give in rather than fighting this until the end. The whole way this is turning out goes to show that even the staff at the educational institutions need to become educated on how Napster is used and what it really is. One can only hope that the third school named as a defendant, the University of Southern California (USC), does not buck under pressure. We should all encourage them to continue on with the legal battle and not allow themselves to be "bullied" by the recording industry. Napster will prevail, regardless of whether or not they win these lawsuits. It is too late, the cat is already out of the bag, and there is no putting it back. If the recording industry thinks that this will happen even with a multitude of lawsuits then they are sadly mistaken.

Music IS Free, the MP3 Revolution, the age of change is here, and now, for the recording industry. Embrace and be remembered, denouce and become a thing of the past...