In the wake of increased lawsuits for illegal file sharing, a handful of universities around the country are trying out a number of pay-for-service file-sharing programs, such as Cflix and Napster 2.0. Yale, Duke, Wake Forest, Penn State and the University of Colorado-Boulder are among the schools piloting programs for students to reduce the probability of illegal downloading of films, music and other media.
Each college’s approach is a little different: Penn State is offering free access to Napster 2.0 to students and hopes to extend the program to faculty and off-campus areas; schools with Cflix will use the service to provide film clips and other media for class use-Cflix will eventually offer students downloadable movies for a small fee.