Raising a ruckus: new service offers music, movies, and chat.

With the recording industry still threatening action for illegal downloading, a growing number of schools are trying to fend off lawsuits by offering students subscription music download services. Napster, which almost single-handedly gave downloading its bad reputation, has been reborn as a legitimate service that counts at least a half-dozen schools among its subscribers. And Napster is not alone. Apple's iTunes Store, Real Networks Rhapsody, and Microsoft's new Music Store, among others, all offer downloads for a price (99 cents or less), with varying degrees of ownership.

One of the newest entries is the Ruckus Network, founded by MIT graduate students David Galper and Vince Han. Ruckus is targeted exclusively to the college market, and features movies as well as music. It also offers online chats and the ability for students to share their own music, photos, and video. "It has the core content that students want, coupled with community features and tools that administrators tell us help build community and bring students closer together," says Galper. More than 1,500 students were interviewed to determine the type of content the service offers.

The Ruckus servers reside within the subscriber university's network and the content has been licensed from its copyright owners. For $5 a month, users can download and listen to as many songs as they want, but the content remains "tethered" to their computer. "If you have a laptop you can take the tunes with you," explains Galper, "but you can't move them to a portable device or burn them to a CD. When you cease to be an authorized member of the service, the tracks will expire and no longer be playable."

Northern Illinois University was the first to sign on this fall, and Galper says other schools will be joining the service in coming months. "This is a compelling student amenity for schools, and is well within the realms of legality--which is important for all parties involved."