Starting Monday morning, a new, legal, risk-free music downloading option will be available on campus. AU signed an agreement with Ruckus downloading service, a pay service that has about 700,000 songs available and adds 50 new movies to its servers each month. It will be free for the rest of this semester, and starting in the fall it will be paid for by a $50 addition to residence hall fee on each student's bill.
Without a doubt, this is a brilliant move on the part of AU. With the problem of some students on campus having their names given to the Recording Industry Association of America last year, the idea of getting sued for illegal downloading is a real concern for many. Students are going to download anyway, so this decision simultaneously protects students from the lawsuit threat and forces them to pay for their downloading of copyrighted material.
To be sure, though, this plan is not without flaws. As of now, the service is only available for computers that are physically located on the campus internet connection. AU said it hopes to have it changed to a log-in service available anywhere on the Internet by fall. If that plan is not in place by the fall, there will be students living off campus forced to pay another $50 for a service they can't use. We sincerely hope that if the log-in setup is not organized by August, AU keeps in mind the students who live off campus.
Similarly, Ruckus is not currently available for Apple computers. Ruckus said it hopes to have an Apple version out soon, but suggested no timetable. With the rising popularity of iBooks on campus, it would be awful if an Apple version of the program wasn't available soon.
Though some students are upset about the automatic $50 charge, it's a fair price considering the rising cost of CDs and the humongous cost of potential litigation. It will be similar to the Fitness Center fee, which everyone pays because everyone could use the Fitness Center, even if not everyone does.
