Student Body President Matt Calabria says that whenever he steps into the Pit, he is bombarded with questions about when music file-sharing services will come to UNC.
Now he has a response - one for students like sophomore Geoffrey Staton, who enjoys relaxing in the Student Union with an iPod in hand, and junior Alexis Ziavras, for whom portable music is addictive.
"We have begun communication with the (UNC-system) Office of the President for a potential plan to provide free music file-sharing for all students on campus for the spring semester," Calabria said.
The tentative time table for such a program stretches to next fall.
Before the end of this semester, five or six music downloading companies will collaborate with UNC to conduct a trial study to determine which program works best on campus, Calabria said.
After a company is chosen, the Office of the President will pay for all on-campus students' use of the program in the spring. Students would begin to pay at the beginning of the 2005-06 school year.
Calabria, who advocated legal music downloading during his election campaign, said he is pleased that the concerns and interests of music-loving students have been heard by the Office of the President and UNC's Information Technology Services.
Once the program kicks in, an "opt-in" system will charge a small fee to those students who chose to use the service, instead of having every on-campus student pay for the program through student fees.
"I'm sure we'd negotiate a better price than advertised," said John-Scott Smith, co-chairman of the Business and Technology Committee for Calabria's Cabinet. "There will be incentives."
