SGA candidates have promised for years to deliver a legal file-sharing program to UD, but that promise has only recently been made a reality.

Ruckus, found at http://www.ruckus.com, is the answer to many UD students' prayers, not to mention their parents, who worry about their children facing harsh penalties for downloading media illegally. The need for college students to be able to download music free and legally is now being met at UD.

The success in bringing Ruckus to UD is in response to over 60 students who are facing the consequences of illegal music downloads from programs such as Morpheus and Limewire, according to a recent e-mail sent by SGA.

As stated in the University of Dayton Standards of Behavior Handbook for the 2006-2007 School Year, 'peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing programs (such as Limewire, KaZaA, Direct Connect, etc.) to distribute unauthorized copyrighted materials is prohibited.' The consequences of such actions, as stated in the University's Standards of Behavior Handbook, are restriction of Internet privileges, fines, and for repeat offenders, university disciplinary probation.

However, Ruckus has come to the rescue. By using digital rights management, Ruckus is able to provide UD students with legal music downloads for thirty days at a time. After these thirty days, students must re-acquire the licenses for only downloaded songs, a process which is automatically done when a student attempts to replay the expired songs.

The university and SGA paid for the campus subscription to Ruckus, so the entirety of the student population can enjoy it. However, part of the contract with Ruckus was that if the SGA could get 3,000 students to sign up for Ruckus within the first few months, the subscription fee would be waived.

'On the first day we had 3,200 people sign up, so there was no fee,' said Pete Puskar, who spearheaded the Ruckus partnership over two years ago.

Puskar also said that by the end of the first week Ruckus had been in effect, over 4,000 students had signed up. Ruckus set the quota of 3,000 students because it is completely advertisement-based, and the company wants as many college students as possible to view these advertisements.

There are a few limitations. Ruckus music cannot be copied onto portable devices or burned on to CDs; however, if a student chooses to pay $20 per term for a Ruckus-To-Go subscription, that student can put his downloaded music onto a portable device. It is $15 per term for a movie subscription, and this is only available to students who are directly connected on campus. These limitations, however, have not prevented students at UD from joining Ruckus.

Ruckus is specifically designed for colleges and universities and caters to the popular genres of music and movies for the college-age generation. UD's contract with Ruckus will last four years before it has to be renewed. It is not only legal, but free to UD students, and the entire UD campus is invited to join Ruckus. Subscriptions for faculty and staff are $5.99 per term.

For more information about Ruckus, visit http://www.ruckus.com or sga.udayton.edu/music.