Ruckus expands to all U.S. colleges

Students across the country can now legally download music and movies free through Ruckus, the downloading and social networking service that the IU Student Association brought to IU in October.\nIUSA's "Hoosier" party, which won the elections last year, made bringing Ruckus to IU one of the key issues in its campaign.\nIn the past, a college first had to have a contract with the company. Now Ruckus Network Inc. has announced plans to open the service to students nationwide, whether their universities have signed Ruckus contracts or not, according to a Ruckus news release.\nStudents across the country will have access to the world's first advertising-supported downloading service only for colleges. But students who attend universities with a contractual agreement will receive "an enhanced user experience," which includes faster downloads, access to movie downloads, and lower costs when it comes to additional video content, according to the release.\nPotential users now only need a valid ".edu" e-mail account to sign up, the release said.\n"Students who already had the program deemed it to be a unique and value-added service to students," IUSA President Betsy Henke said in an e-mail interview. "We included it in our campaign as a way to contribute to a campus and student life that is well-known for technology advancements and the services provided to students."\nWhile some IU students said they didn't feel like they knew enough about the program to operate it, freshman John Miller, a Mac user, said he's well-acquainted with the network.\n"I'm kind of turned off to the fact that it doesn't work with Macs," he said. "It's more of a hassle than it's worth."\nWhile many Macs are not compatible, IUSA in the past stated it is possible for Apple computers equipped with Intel chips to work with Ruckus if additional software is purchased. \nStill, Miller said he thinks Ruckus has the capabilities to make the network more compatible with Macs but wonders if Microsoft licenses are getting in the way.\n"I would support switching to another service," he added.\nHe said he doesn't understand why IUSA didn't choose one of the college downloading services that are compatible with both Mac and PC operating systems. It doesn't make sense for a downloading service to not work with iPods when they're one of the most prevalent MP3 players. He added he would prefer the iTunes U service that IU is adopting this semester.\nHenke said she thinks Ruckus has some advantages over iTunes.\n"We have heard many positive (reactions) about the quick access to nearly every type of music or artist people are looking for, the ability to auto-download others' playlists -- unlike iTunes, where you can only stream another person's and have to be on the same network," she said.\nHenke said while IUSA was trying to provide a legal way to download music, some students have started removing the security on the media files so the music can be transferred to iPods.\nShe said IUSA would like comments on the service and will continue to evaluate the program and address feedback they receive.