Joining Juicy Campus as another college-centric site to shut down unexpectedly in the past week, Ruckus, the online music service promoted as a legal alternative to music piracy, has come to an end with no explanation.
The closure of the service, which Penn adopted in 2006, comes on the heels of the Recording Industry Association of America's decision last December to stop filing lawsuits against individuals for file-sharing.
On Friday, Ruckus users were greeted by an image with text that said, "Unfortunately the Ruckus Service will no longer be provided. Thanks."
No explanation has been publicly issued by the company, including any communication with the Undergraduate Assembly, which originally worked to bring the service to campus.
Ruckus originally launched in 2004 as a subsidized subscription-based service. The company partnered with about 82 colleges across the country - not including Penn - to provide unlimited, streaming music to students.
However, several colleges and universities soon ended their relationship with Ruckus over student discontent with the service.
After revamping its business model, the company offered the service for free to universities and its students, including Penn.
Eventually, in early 2007, Ruckus became free for anyone with an .edu e-mail address.
Despite its large catalog of free music, the service came with several limitations.
All music was Windows Media DRM-protected and could only be listened to through the Ruckus Media Player. Users could not upload it to their portable media players.
Ruckus was also incompatible with Apple computers.
Despite these restrictions, Penn and the UA had hoped Ruckus would catch on with students.
College House Computing has worked with the UA to publicize Ruckus as a free, legal alternative to file-sharing.
Penn had been among the top of the list in piracy complaints, with 114 Penn students receiving pre-litigation letters from the RIAA.
Even with the abrupt end of Ruckus, the UA indicated it would still continue to find ways to combat music piracy.
"It will be increasingly important that we move quickly to find an alternative service," said UA Chairman and College and Wharton senior Wilson Tong.
With this revised online music landscape, some believe that downloaders will revert to their old habits.
"There is going to be an increase in piracy, especially since the RIAA stopped suing people," said Wharton sophomore Nick Whitehead.
Ruckus had been one of the few remaining services geared specifically toward college students.
"I think that the shutting down of Ruckus could be a positive," said Wharton senior Jonathan Boym.
"They [need to] figure out a way to offer free music to students without limiting their options," he said.
