About 2,700 DU students have signed up for the free, legal computer downloading service called Ruckus, according to Director of Student Life Technology Mike Hiskey.
The network, which coincidently shares its name with DU’s mascot but has no other affiliation, allows students to download music and movies at no cost. The process is legal according to advertisements on the site.
Since Ruckus placed a server with most of the content on campus, downloads are also very fast and do not use any of DU’s limited bandwidth. Other advantages include certified virus-free files and higher quality sound than most other services.
“As more people use Ruckus to get music and videos, the huge problems we currently see created by Limewire and other file-sharing applications will decrease,” said Hiskey. Such programs have been known to crash computers and spread viruses around campus.
But Ruckus has experienced technical issues. Katie Vilders, an administrator in the Student Affairs Office, reported that some students at the law school who have downloaded Ruckus experienced some technical problems, and a few users’ computers have even crashed due to the new program. University Technology Services told Vilders that such problems were isolated and “bound to happen” with any new program.
While the networks downloads are free, fast and legal, the files can only be played using Ruckus’s application on a computer. This means that files cannot be burned onto CDs or transferred to other applications like iTunes or to portable mp3 players with the free version of Ruckus.
There is a fee-based upgrade available called Ruckus to Go which charges users $20 per semester to transfer music to their portable mp3 players. For DU students, that equates to a $20 charge to use the service through December, and an additional $20 from January to May.
But Ruckus to Go users can only transfer files to a player that is “PlaysForSure” certified, which includes most mp3 players manufactured by Creative Labs, Samsung, iRiver, and JVC, among others, but does not include the popular iPod. Mac users can purchase downloaded files by subscribing to emusic.com at a steeply discounted rate in conjunction with the free version of Ruckus.
For Windows users who own an iPod, Hiskey asserted, “Ruckus is a great way to download and listen to an entire song or CD before deciding whether to buy a track.”
While many students have decided to stick with person-to-person applications like Limewire due to Ruckus’s limitations, numerous users on campus prefer the new program.
“It’s definitely the easiest way to have legally current music,” said junior Alyssa Hampton. “[Ruckus] is a really user-friendly program.”
Hampton added that she still uses her iPod when she’s away from her computer, but that Ruckus is “ideal for life at DU” due to the wired campus and students’ portable laptops.
“I really think that this type of service will be used by more and more people over time,” stated Hiskey. After many technical problems in recent years stemming from file-sharing software like Napster and Limewire, he expressed excitement toward the addition of Ruckus to DU and where it will take the school in the near future.
“It’s a great solution for students and administration,” said Hiskey.
