Oxford University bans Spotify

Even though Spotify is perfectly legal, Oxford University has blocked the music streaming application simply because of the way it works.

University policy says "the unauthorised use of peer-to-peer resource-sharing software on machines connected to the Oxford University Network is prohibited." Spotify, a legal streaming music service, is owned in part by music labels. It can either be ad-supported or ad-free with a paid subscription and uses peer-to-peer techniques to deliver songs quickly.

ADVERTISEMENT

spotify

Oxford's Web site explains why peer-to-peer resource sharing is not allowed: Primarily, it's because peer-to-peer sucks up bandwidth, often designed to utilize all of a user's available bandwidth while offering little control. "Bandwidth that seems insignificant for one user will soon add up when scaled up to the many thousands of users connected to Oxford University's networks," the site says, adding that it's hard to justify this kind of usage for mostly recreational purposes.

Oxford also lists copyright infringement and security issues as reasons for not allowing peer-to-peer file sharing.

ADVERTISEMENT

Regardless of the reasons for banning peer-to-peer as a whole, students are up in arms. One music student challenged the belief that Spotify has no educational value. "I use it loads. It's the most comprehensive collection of classical music in one place," the student told independent student news site Cherwell.

Looking further into Oxford's policies on peer-to-peer technology, I can conclude that going to college there would be miserable. World of Warcraft players must use a slower method for downloading patches, Microsoft Office Groove -- an online collaboration tool -- is banned, VoIP in the gaming service Steam mustn't be used, and Skype can only be installed under special conditions. College is a great time for discovering new media, whether it's games, movies or music, and that's important for enriching the academic experience. When even legal methods of enjoying these things is banned, something's wrong.

No posts to display