Ruckus Launches Own Network For Legal Campus P2P

Ruckus Network, a provider of legal digital entertainment services on college campuses, on Friday announced the launch of its network, with $9 million in funding from Battery Ventures and Shelter Capital Partners. The company announced the first schools to sign on as customers for its service are Alfred State College, Bentley College and Northern Illinois University. The Ruckus Network offers licensed movies and music, as well as a blend of national, local and university content. The company said it has licensed tracks from Universal Music Group, Sony BMG, Warner and independent labels Sanctuary and IODA, and is in discussions with other labels and movie distributors. “The student demographic is the single largest consumer of digital media with unequalled access to broadband and computing power, said Ruckus CEO William Raduchel. “Yet surprisingly, they’ve had to resort to cumbersome and often illegal solutions to get their digital entertainment.”