Instead of listening to their favorite music, students who visited Ruckus in the past few days were met with a nearly blank screen and a brief message.
"Unfortunately, the Ruckus service will no longer be provided. Thanks."
The Web site devoted to offering college students an alternative to illegal file sharing unexpectedly shut down Friday, about two years after signing a contract with Ball State University.
Asher Lisec, Student Government Association president at Ball State University when Ruckus began providing its services on campus, said Ruckus and Ball State entered a no money contract in which the site provided its music services in exchange for advertising from the university.
According to previous Daily News reports Ball State's advertising responsibilities included e-mailing students, handing out fliers and putting the Ruckus logo on the SGA Web site.
Lisec said she was happy Ball State had the opportunity to use the service while it lasted and that it came at no cost to students. She said she hoped this year's SGA slates would attempt to find another similar service for the Ball State community.
According to previous Daily News reports Ruckus provided a server at University Computing Services that contained millions of songs and thousands of movies that students could listen to and view at no charge. Downloading files required a monthly fee.
The Web site also acted as a social network similar to Facebook. Students could upload photos, meet new people and form groups.
The site often received criticism for not being compatible with Apple products including MAC computers, iTunes and iPods. Ruckus also had a loop hole that allowed students to download songs illegally.
Attempts to contact Ruckus representatives were not successful.
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