Students seeking alternative methods of music downloading may consider Ruckus, which is available to all college students, faculty and alumni.

Ruckus is a online media service available free to NIU students with a Z-ID. It allows students free music downloads, as well as other types of media. According to the Information Technology Services Web site, students may also run Ruckus

as a Facebook application. It allows students to download media free of viruses and spyware.

Drui Combs, a freshman English major and Ruckus user, feels the service is convenient for students.

“It’s sort of like a free Limewire,” Combs said.

Combs said it allows him to avoid copyright infringement and also saves him time and money.

“It definitely keeps me out of trouble,” Combs said. “Why not take advantage of it?”

Not everything on Ruckus is free, however. Transferring downloaded songs from a computer to a music player requires a RuckusToGo account, offered by ITS at $19.95 a semester.

Students may place downloaded songs on some portable music players, but several others, such as iPods, are not compatible. Also, downloaded music from Ruckus cannot be burned onto CDs, rather burnable tracks are available for a price of 99 cents or less. Technological requirements include Windows XP and Windows Media Player 11 or higher.

Andrew Putz, a senior physical education major, described Ruckus as frustrating.

“I thought the program was hard to navigate,” Putz said, “You’re better off buying the track.”

Putz thinks another downfall is the lack of compatibility of the music.

“That’s why I don’t use it, because I have an iPod,” Putz said.

Ruckus serves more than 1,000 schools across the nation and has exclusive partnerships with 170 other schools besides NIU. The benefits of the partnership include better downloading speed and an on-campus media server, according to the Ruckus Web site.