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April 26, 2007, 03:56 PM ET
Penn State Switches From Napster to Ruckus
When Pennsylvania State University became the first institution to offer students free subscriptions to a music-downloading service, in 2003, campus officials chose Napster. Shortly after Penn State made its decision, several other colleges — including the University of Rochester, Cornell University, and Middlebury College — cast their lots with the company as well.
Since then, though, Napster seems to have shifted its focus away from cultivating a campus clientele. And upstart services, like Ruckus and Cdigix’s soon-to-be-departed Ctrax, carved out their own pieces of the campus-downloading market.
Today Penn State announced that it will switch to Ruckus when its contract with Napster lapses at the end of May. Ruckus makes money through advertising revenue, not by charging colleges, so the university’s decision to switch can’t be considered a huge surprise. But for campus officials who have closely watched the music-downloading services battle for supremacy, Penn State’s change of heart may mark a changing of the guard. —Brock Read
Categories: Campus-Piracy
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