Penn Launches Ruckus: Online Music Service for Students, Faculty, and Staff

September 28, 2006 :: Amy Phillips, ISC

The Undergraduate Assembly (UA), Graduate and Professional Student Association (GAPSA), College Houses and Academic Services (CHAS), and Information Systems & Computing (ISC) are pleased to announce that the University of Pennsylvania has signed a one-year contract with Ruckus, a digital multi-media entertainment network, to offer students, faculty and staff a way to download digital music – safely and legally. The University joins a growing number of colleges and universities across the country that have made the Ruckus service available to their community.

Ruckus is designed specifically for college and university students. The network service will allow students to access more than 1.5 million music tracks as well to create a personal friends network to share songs and entertainment interests. The service is free for current students on or off campus, and available for a low cost to faculty and staff. Subscription services, help and support are available directly through Ruckus, at www.ruckus.com.

While the music downloads to a PC are free, per-semester fees apply to download music to a portable player and for access to the Ruckus catalog of movies and televisions shows. Ruckus is not compatible with iPod portable music player or the Macintosh or Linux operating systems.

The University will periodically evaluate the adoption of this service as well as the direction of the music industry in order to make future contract renewal decisions that are in the best interests of the academic mission of the University and the cultural interests of the Penn community.

"I commend the UA leadership, GAPSA, CHAS and ISC for all of their efforts to bring an additional legal music alternative to students at the University of Pennsylvania," said Provost Ron Daniels.