COLLEGES FLUNK HOWARD NAPSTER FOE HOWARD KING

Today is the day that Metallica and Dr. Dre's legal eagle, Howard King, wanted many of the nation's universities to respond to his request that they ban Napster from their computer networks. King sent a letter to colleges stating that allowing access to the file-swapper was equivalent to aiding copyright theft.

So far, it appears that colleges are either ignoring the request or are telling King they won't restrict access to Napster.

King told information technology news Website Newsbytes that the date wasn't a deadline, and that he is not intending to sue the colleges. Still, "We would plan to follow up with those who don't respond—or don't respond the way we'd like them to respond," he said.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology told King that its policy is to maintain an open network. Last spring, Indiana University, Yale and the University of Southern California all agreed to restrict Napster after they were included in a lawsuit filed by Metallica and Dr. Dre against Napster. When the schools dropped Napster, they were dropped from the suit.

In only barely related news, oral arguments on Napster's appeal of a preliminary injunction that would shut them down are scheduled for Oct. 2 in San Francisco at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.