HERNDON, VA – Western Oregon University community gets free, legal access to more than three million songs

• Ruckus Network, Inc. provides students access to legal, downloadable music and video files at over 120 universities nationwide—now including Western Oregon University.
• All current Western Oregon University students can now use their .edu e-mail address to register for an unlimited amount of free, legal and safe music downloads from major and independent label artists.

Ruckus Network, Inc., the provider of a multimedia network that supplies free and legal music downloads specifically for college students, today announced that its Ruckus® service is now available at Western Oregon University. Throughout the year, Western Oregon University’s undergraduate and graduate students can access the Ruckus service anytime – on or off campus – to enjoy the full-featured music service

Members of the Western Oregon University community can access the first, college-only service that blends social networking features with a massive and continuously expanding library of free, legal and safe music downloads. Ruckus has already proven successful at over 120 colleges and universities across the country, including Arizona State, Brown University, Gonzaga University, Princeton University, University of California, Berkeley, University of Denver, and Villanova University. WOU is only the 4th university on the west coast to offer Ruckus.

With Ruckus, students can legally download and share music, create playlists, send personal media recommendations to friends and neighbors, browse classmates’ profiles and media libraries, and meet new friends. Students can also build their personal music libraries from Ruckus’ collection of more than three million high-fidelity, virus-free songs. Ruckus eliminates copyright infringement through its licensing agreements with all of the major international record labels, as well as thousands of independent labels and artists. Faculty and staff can also take advantage of the partnership for a low monthly fee.

“Western Oregon University is thrilled about our partnership with Ruckus, because of the many advantages it provides to our students. Now students can download legal, licensed and free digital content, while sharing and discovering new music through the Western Oregon University community,” said Bill Kernan, director of University and Computing Services at Western Oregon University. “With the Ruckus service, we are giving students a legal downloading alternative that also includes social networking features found at popular sites. It’s something we think will be well received on our campus and is a wonderful addition to our digital services that include campus Wi-Fi and extensive computer lab coverage across campus.”

Western Oregon University was selected to participate based on student demand for the Ruckus service, the school’s robust networking infrastructure, and a demonstrable commitment to supporting legal digital media services through on-campus marketing. Western Oregon University and Ruckus will collaborate to reduce campus network infrastructure costs and enhance the user experience by improving network performance and distributing additional video content on campus.

“We are very excited to make our music service available to students at Western Oregon University, to help them discover and share new music,” said Mairin Brzica, director of campus relations at Ruckus. “Western Oregon University students have been asking for Ruckus for months and we are happy to now provide a full featured digital entertainment service – and a safe and legal alternative to file-sharing – at no cost to students or to the school.” 

Western Oregon University students can begin using the service immediately by visiting www.Ruckus.com, clicking on “join Ruckus” and entering an .edu email address. The registration process only takes a few minutes.

About Ruckus Network, Inc.
Ruckus Network, Inc. provides the premier digital entertainment network designed specifically for college students. The Ruckus experience blends college students’ top interests – friends and entertainment – to create a strong sense of community at universities across the country. Whether looking for a roommate with similar interests or someone who enjoys hip hop music as much as they do, Ruckus members are able to find friends through media and media through friends. Today, the Ruckus service is available to hundreds of thousands of U.S. college students and is quickly becoming the brand of choice for higher education institutions nationwide. For more information, please visit our corporate Web site at www.RuckusNetwork.com or our service at www.Ruckus.com.

About Western Oregon University
Western Oregon University (WOU) is a public university located in Monmouth, Oregon. The university has a 150-year tradition of small classes and personalized instruction built around a contemporary liberal arts curriculum with 50 degree options and serving 5,000 students. In 2006 WOU implemented the Western Tuition Promise that guarantees undergraduate students the same tuition rate for the four-year period necessary to earn a bachelor’s degree. More information is available at www.wou.edu.

Contacts:
Tim Hurley or Andrew Soucy, BluePoint Venture Marketing for Ruckus Network
tim@bluepointmktg.com or andrew@bluepointmktg.com or 781-861-7800

Chris Lawson, Ruckus Network
clawson@ruckus.com or 703-464-6551

Bill Kernan, Western Oregon University
kernanb@wou.edu or 503-838-8154