New Ruckus gaining attention on USF campus

Monday, September 17, 2007

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Ruckus allows USF students a safe and legal way to listen to streaming music from their computer for free. (Slideshow)

TAMPA (Bay News 9) -- At face value, Ruckus is a new service that allows USF students a safe and legal way to listen to streaming music from their computer for free.

"Nobody wants to pay 99 cents for a song, or if they want to download a whole CD or something like that," student Amy Gregory said.

Ruckus was brought to USF after the university became the target of the Recording Industry Association of America.

USF'S IP address ranks third of all college campuses in the country with the number of complaints for illegally downloaded copyrighted material.

USF's Chief Technology Officer, Michael Pearce, said illegal downloading is a problem at most college campuses nationwide.

What's The Ruckus?

"We look at, and this is the type of thing with Ruckus, we look at legal alternatives to provide music across the campus, and things of this nature," Pearce said.

But a close look at Ruckus reveals it may not help the university curb illegal downloads at all.

It doesn't work with i-Pods. And USF students like Jody Blackmon download music to MP3 players from newsgroups, or free file sharing sites such as LimeWire, Ares and Soulseek.

Ruckus charges students 79-99 cents per song download, making it less appealing.

USF's Chief Technology Officer, Michael Pearce, said illegal downloading is a problem at most college campuses nationwide.

"You can't copy it, you can't put it on a CD, you can't put it on your portable player," Blackmon said. "All you can do is sit by your computer and listen to it, which is basically like the radio to me."

And chances are students who download music illegally to save money will keep doing it to save money.

Ruckus fees are similar to iTunes, which has been available nationwide since 2001.

Alumni and staff of USF can also access Ruckus for a monthly fee. University administrators said in addition to music Ruckus includes some select movies.

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