Free Music Service for Students Shuts Down

The Ruckus Network, a music download service targeted at universities, shut down operations Friday, the Chronicle of Higher Education reports. There was no official explanation for its closure, but a brief description of its "features" might offer some insight:

Ruckus was incompatible with Macs, and files downloaded through the company's free service couldn't be uploaded to iPods and other portable devices, because of digital-rights-management protections.

To its credit, Ruckus allowed students from participating colleges download an unlimited amount of music to their computers for free. It began as a subscription service five years ago, but in 2006, it dropped its for-pay model and only required universities to sign up for the service. It made its money (or didn't) via advertising.

More than 80 campuses had signed up for Ruckus, most of which did not receive any advance warning of its closure. "We just learned this morning that the Ruckus service has ended," said an IT official from the University of Maryland, the Diamondback reports.

Some students were dismayed by the shutdown, but even more rarely used it or were just slightly peeved. Said one Penn State student: "Maybe it's good that it finally shut down," she said. "Now you don't have to waste your time." Another added: "[It's] annoying," but "it's not like the end of my world or anything."