The service itself had its flaws. For one, it didn't work well on Macs. Second, the songs available were locked down with a variety of DRM systems, so you could only stream them from your computer - no burning CDs or uploading the tracks to your iPod. But, hey, it was free, and Ruckus did provide a means for university students, faculty and staff to download music quickly and legally, despite those annoying limitations.

But as of Friday, Feb. 6 Ruckus has disappeared, leaving only the message that "unfortunately the Ruckus service will no longer be provided." Bert DeSimone, EITS communications officer at UGA, is reluctant to speculate as to why Ruckus went under. "I would assume they're another victim of economic times," he says. 

Ruckus was funded entirely by advertising, and had changed ownership a couple of times since the University System of Georgia partnered with the company almost exactly a year ago.  DeSimone says UGA was given no indication that Ruckus would be terminating service, and that since Friday no representatives from Ruckus have been in contact or reachable by any means. 

Roughly 20 to 25 percent of qualified users took advantage of Ruckus, DeSimone estimates, and it's unclear whether the songs that users downloaded are still available, although it seems unlikely. Since this happened less than a week ago, DeSimone says no committees have met to discuss the possibility of offering an alternative service, although that's still a possibility. 

Personally, I am skeptical that Ruckus truly curbed anyone's illegal downloading habits unless enough students found ways around the DRM. As I recall at least a few sneaky devils were able to clean up the downloads, but that could be more effort than it's worth. I am curious to hear from you, (former) Ruckus users. Are you able to access any tunes you once downloaded? Will you miss Ruckus at all or is it "good riddance?" There are tons of downloading alternatives out there - what model makes sense to you? I would have been happy to pay for a DRM-free service as part of my student fees. I wonder how that would fly…

 Michelle Gilzenrat