With such big pipes connecting students' computers to the outside world, it's no wonder colleges and universities figure among the top download destinations for nonstudents looking for their favorite music. Research institutions such as the University of Minnesota routinely crack the Internet's top-60 lists of most popular URLs to visit, with more files exported out than imported, Cawley said. That's why some schools are considering whether to charge for Internet access. Clemson University in South Carolina, for instance, is looking at restructuring the way it provides all telecommunications services, including phone, video conferencing and voice mail as well as Internet access. Other Minnesota schools don't charge anything for Net access, however.
Students consider free access to the Internet an entitlement.
Both colleges, just northwest of St. Cloud, originally tried to block Napster access and failed when students easily out-maneuvered the system. So they became among the first schools in Minnesota to go with the flow this fall by using a device called a Packet Shaper. It then allows administrators to assign different amounts of bandwidth to each type of file. Observing protocol, Koenig considers it a life-saver. It makes the difference between being in business and not . . .