As the free Napster file-sharing service enters its second year at Penn State, old problems and some new ones continue to frustrate users of the program.

Sam Haldeman, assistant to the associate vice provost for Information Technology Services, said some students have complained of being unable to play previously downloaded songs, although it is unclear why this is happening.

"There's a few things that could be going on," he said. "One, students need to re-register at the beginning of the semester, or else Napster will assume that you are not taking a class at Penn State."

Haldeman said it could also be related to licensing issues.

"If the problem is with downloaded tracks, that is usually a licensing issue," he said. "Napster has to basically refresh licensing with artists each year, and Napster or the artist may be a little more stringent than before."

Napster spokeswoman Dana Harris acknowledged that some students have had problems playing songs.

"It is possible that an artist removed their music from the service, or decided that they didn't want to give the rights to it anymore," Harris said. "But it's certainly not anything that happens on a regular basis that it would be an issue."

Haldeman said there has been no progress has been making Napster compatible with Macintosh computers, which cannot use the Napster service.

"Other than us pounding the table to get Apple and Windows to come to some agreement on the compatibility agreement, we haven't gotten anywhere," Haldeman said. "That's really more in the hands of Napster and Apple."

While Haldeman doesn't see these problems continuing, he said Penn State would begin to investigate other music services if Napster cannot satisfy students.

If the service does not fulfill its mission of providing access to everything students can get on a legal service, the university will re-approach the process of selecting a new music service.

"If there are students [having] issues, and if we can't resolve them, we're going to take the necessary steps to go a step further," Haldeman said. "We'll eliminate the problem that's causing these problems."

Residence Hall Network Coordinator Clifford Rodack said only a few students have complained to him about similar problems.

"There's been maybe two or three so far this semester," Rodack said. "Which, out of the number of students living in residence halls, is not very many."

According to the housing office, there are currently 13,385 students living in dorms.

However, Jim Sekel (sophomore-mechanical engineering) said his Napster only plays a randomly chosen 30 seconds of a song.

"I don't want to listen to that," Sekel said. "At least if it started at the beginning of the song you could pretend you're listening to the whole thing."

Sekel said he doesn't use the Napster service anymore.

"I tried fixing it, but I just gave up and got something else," he said.

Rodack suggested that students who have problems with Napster contact ResCom.

"We can talk to them, see what's been done with their computer, and forward them to the right person," he said. "They can also try the Napster Web page [www.napster.psu.edu]."

Haldeman said the university's contract with Napster is based on individual semesters but is self-perpetuating.

"It continues automatically until we decide to amend it or modify it," Haldeman said.

Penn State spokesman Bill Mahon said he could not release financial information in the contract. Students receive the program for free but pay 99 cents per song and $10 per album if they want to burn it onto a CD.

"We agreed to keep the details private in exchange for getting the students a really sweet deal," he said.

ResCom South Halls Manager Josh Fleming said few students have complained to him about the program.

"Overall, the Napster program seems to have been working well," he said. "Not many people have been coming down."

Fleming added that students who use Macintosh computers have not been coming to ResCom, either.

"Many people have accepted it at this point; they know what to expect," he said.

Adam Chudwin (sophomore-hotel, restaurant and institutional management) said he hasn't had any problems playing downloaded tracks.

"It's working pretty good," Chudwin said. "I like it a lot, and the songs always come up instantly."