UCLA’s Get Legal program is attempting to deter copyright infringement by using the new digital music program Ruckus to try and prevent illegal downloading on campus.
The Ruckus software, which provides free music and movies that can be legally downloaded to a computer, is being promoted on campus beginning this quarter. For an additional fee, users can transfer the music to some MP3 players or burn it to CDs.
A survey by Student Monitor, a research organization that specifically studies college students, reports that more than half of college students in the country illegally download music and movies.
Jonathan Curtis, manager of technological development for student and campus life, said, “The numbers are way up.”
Curtis said that he believes Ruckus will help in the Get Legal campaign. Since its beginning in 2006, Get Legal has promoted legal downloading among UCLA students.
Get Legal has chosen not to eliminate all file sharing but rather to maintain peer-to-peer swapping for constructive uses such as research and allow students to choose whether or not to download illegally, Curtis said.
“We think of illegal file-sharing as a behavioral problem,” Curtis said.
He said the university approach is one of education and outreach, using Ruckus as one component of the strategy.
Chris Utah, director of subscriber acquisitions for Ruckus, said the program differs from other digital entertainment providers in that it allows downloads rather than streaming music.
Curtis said that he hopes the ability to download music rather than listen to streaming files will encourage students to follow the Get Legal program.
However, those with iPods will be unable to load the music onto their players. Ruckus is compatible with the Windows PlaysForSure format, and iPods only play Apple’s proprietary format and MP3s, Curtis said.
“Unfortunately, there isn’t a program out there that can play on all programs and all players for free,” Curtis said.
Some students with iPods said they would not use Ruckus for that reason.
“Seems like a big shortcoming of it,” fourth-year Billy McIntyre said.
Curtis said that those with other types of MP3 players may be able to load songs downloaded from Ruckus onto their devices as part of a subscription service. In addition, students could burn CDs for 79 to 99 cents per track, Utah said.
Third-year student Adrianna King said she would use Ruckus even though she owns an iPod. “I would just burn it to CDs,” she said.
Mairin Brzica, director of campus sales at Ruckus, said that Ruckus also provides services only to a college community and focuses content on what college students want. Brzica said that there is a “My Neighborhood” option, which will allow sharing in certain subnets on campus.
Curtis said that all college students can use Ruckus but that UCLA students receive the extra benefits of a formal deal with Ruckus. Schools with such formal agreements can download entire albums in about eight seconds, Utah said.
The Ruckus Corporation came to UCLA along with other digital entertainment providers in early 2006, after the University of California issued a request for proposals in response to the illegal downloading problem, Curtis said. UCLA chose deals with three programs, initially Mindawn, CDigix and iTunes.
When CDigix went out of business in April 2007, UCLA contacted Ruckus and made a deal in early May, Curtis said.
The music, movies and games offered on the Ruckus Web site are paid for through advertising, Utah said.
“Illegal downloading is a very real issue,” Utah said. “We are the alternative.”
Utah said Ruckus could be used anywhere and could be loaded on up to two machines.
Ruckus will be presented on campus through the administration and through student-based organizations, Utah said. He also said that UCLA already has well over 2,000 users on Ruckus.
Some UCLA students, however, have not yet heard of the program.
“I didn’t even know it existed,” said third-year student Mike Nguyen.
Curtis said he is interested in the response to Ruckus and anticipates that students will have more experience with the programs by next year.
Ruckus representatives said that they wanted the program to help stem illegal file-sharing on college campuses.
“We hope that students use the service instead of downloading illegally,” Brzica said.