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By Mariya Gorbanova, PHOTO EDITOR Ruckus, a legal downloading engine through Apogee Internet services, is now available to Brockport students. This service is free and legal, although a $4.99 monthly fee must be paid to be able to convert songs to be compatible with iPods. |
Ruckus lets students upload music legally
By Evan Brengel
copy editor
Only weeks before its nationwide release, the new music downloading engine, Ruckus became available to SUNY Brockport through Apogee. Ruckus is a program that allows legal, free music downloading, as opposed to illegal music downloading programs like LimeWire and BearShare, which colleges across the nation have had trouble controlling.
Any student with an “.edu” e-mail account can now download and partake in the program, as Ruckus has just launched its nationwide campaign for no extra cost. It offers more than 2.1 million tracks, including full length CDs, that can be downloaded for students’ listening pleasure. Brockport was able to obtain this service through Apogee as part of a promotion a few weeks before the company launched its nationwide opening of the service to all college students.
Many students feel this is a valuable and safe service, like sophomore Jeremy Becker. “I think Ruckus is a great tool, and it really protects people from the illegal file sharing that most students decide to use, where you can get viruses or be legally prosecuted if you get caught,” Becker said.
However, there is a catch. Songs cannot be burned to a rewritable CD or onto an MP3 player without paying a $4.99 monthly fee to Ruckus on the Go, which allows students to convert the files and transfer them onto portable devices.
Many students do not realize this function of Ruckus is even available. “I hate it,” sophomore Alex Matiash said. “It’s not MP3 so I can’t put it on my iPod, and therefore I hate it. I mean it’s great that it’s legal and all, but still.”
Freshman Emily Clark agreed. “You can’t put it on your iPod and burn CDs off it, so a lot of people don’t like it, but if there was a way around it more people would probably be open to it.”
Also, according to the Ruckus home page, the cooperation has received numerous complaints and calls because the program has been found to be incompatible with many Mac computers.
Perhaps this service would find the booming popularity among college students that popular file sharing programs like LimeWire have if more information were readily available. “I really don’t know too much about it. It’s kind of confusing,” said freshman Erin Canavan. “Using it doesn’t seem as simple as some of the other programs I’ve seen people use.”
Regardless, Ruckus does seek to cut down on a large portion of the illegal music sharing that is comprised in large part by the college student population. It offers a large variety of features, including a social networking component much like Facebook or Myspace, where students can exchange comments, make musical recommendations or swap playlists. The latest version also includes an alarm clock feature that lets users wake up to the sound of their own music, and a mini-player to keep the player out of the way when the student is working on other programs on their computer.
Ruckus has made contractual agreements with all major record labels and thousands of independent labels, which is why it is able to provide this service at no cost. While it is free for college students, professors and faculty with an “.edu” e-mail account can also access the service, but for a $8.99 monthly fee.
Thousands of students across the nation have already joined in on this valuable program, and Brockport students are not left out. “Ruckus is an awesome service,” Becker said. “I think everyone will definitely be using it over other programs in the future.”