University-sponsored music downloading program Ruckus is no longer providing its services.Upon visiting the Ruckus Web site, users are greeted with the message, “Unfortunately, the Ruckus service will no longer be provided.” But the reason for the cancellation is still a mystery, even to University officials.Auxiliary service officials said they have not been contacted and have not been able to contact any representatives from Ruckus, so the reason for the service ending is unclear.”I’m not really sure what happened except the Web site is down, and it looks like Ruckus is no longer,” Roberts said.University officials renewed their contract with the free, music-streaming program last August, said Kimberly Roberts, marketing coordinator for the University Auxiliary Services. The University signed a five-year contract with Ruckus in August 2007, with a renewal clause each year.Although Ruckus was in a contract with the University, no party involved has received any compensation because the service was provided at no cost to the University and the University received no revenue from their sponsorship, Roberts said.  “The service was provided at no cost to the University,” said Colorado Robertson, Student Government president.  “We just agreed to promote them on campus … so we gave out their flyers and linked them on our site.”The rights to the media downloaded through Ruckus must be refreshed every three days. This was a constant process when users accessed the music on a daily basis. Because of the Digital Rights Management licensing server has been shut down, the rights will no longer be available rendering students’ music and video libraries useless, according to a Feb. 16 SG news release.The initial agreement was signed with Ruckus because it provided students with an easy way to legally download music, Roberts said.”It was basically a way to provide a service for students … that is easily accessible and legal,” Roberts said. “This was a great way to download the right way.”In August 2007, SG partnered with Ruckus to combat music piracy on campus by giving students access to the college music service, according to the SG news release.SG was only informed of Ruckus’ demise by students reporting problems when the service closed on Feb. 6, Robertson said.The Freshman Leadership Council met a goal of signing up 2,500 new users on campus last semester. As a result, Ruckus donated $2,000 to the FLC to work on campus projects, Robertson said.”We have had a good relationship with Ruckus,” Robertson said. “We have maintained it as an option for free and legal downloads. But now that it has gone under, we are trying to pursue some other options.”–Contact Xerxes A. Wilson at [email protected]