So, as some of you may have read on Tim’s blog, MTU has partnered with Ruckus Network to provide a legal method of downloading music, movies and other copyrighted content for students.
This service was originally proposed for this past school year, however, due to budget issues, was dropped. This year, it is available as a pay-for-use service to all students, on or off campus, undergrad and graduate. The pricing is reasonable, and is tentatively set at $30 per semester for both music and movies, $20 for just movies or $15 for just music. So, for less than the Resnet reconnection fee ($40) after getting it turned off after a copyright infringement notice, you can get it all legally, and DRMed.
What can I tell you about Ruckus though? Their CEO, Bill Raduchel is a MTU alumnus. (From whom he received an honorary doctorate in 2002.) Ruckus Network was founded by a couple of MIT geeks (who seem to be pretty cool in my opinion), one of whom I met about a year to a year and a half ago at an informational meeting. They seem to be a pretty on the level company trying to find a way to fill a market segment that is more used to lawsuits than legitimacy.
Everything isn’t rosy adn there are some restrictions though:
Windows only. Sorry to all you Linux, Apple, BSD, Solaris, BeOS, Amiga, Nextstep, or DOS users. Well… who really cares about the DOS users?
Windows 2000 or XP users only, requires Windows Media Player 10. Why? DRM.
Movies have to be downloaded on campus, then you can take them elsewhere. Why you might ask, well, I have one word: bandwidth.
Movies are only good for 3 days after you download them. You can redownload them again if you want.
Music is good for 30 days, and your DRM renews everytime you connect to the server.
Your music can’t go on iPods. Janus players only, though they can be purchased through Ruckus.
Guess who becomes the tier 1 support for Ruckus? The Resnet consultants. I’m afraid I can’t say more than this for obvious reasons (to anyone who knows me).
Here’s Ruckus’ press release on partnering with MTU.
If you have any questions, feel free to post them, and I’ll do my best to answer them, or get answers. There are some things you could probably ask that I can’t answer because of my job, but I’ll let you know about that when you ask.
EDIT: As a side note, I attempted to install Windows Media Player 10 in Crossover Office tonight, however my craptastic ATI drivers and Crossover react so violently that I lose all video output, including tty1-6.
