In the debate over Napster and similar file-sharing programs ("Company buys Napster, makes sharing legal," Dec. 6 article), several important issues must be remembered.

First, as much as the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) "wouldn't want [the university] to send mixed messages of condoning illegal file sharing," the university must not resort to monitoring student online activities and thereby committing a disturbing breach of student privacy in the name of corporations that shouldn't be influencing Penn State policy.

Second, the issues are not as cut-and-dry as the RIAA and the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) would like you to believe. While true piracy is unethical, these organizations have tried (and succeeded) in pushing through copyright extensions not supported by the Constitution, and tried (and so far failed) in legalizing computer hacking where it concerns file-sharing users.