Ruckus, a downloading service that provided free music and movies for University students, shut down operation Feb. 6. The University has not been informed why this happened.

“Ruckus simply just closed their doors,” said Bert DeSimone, communications officer for Enterprise Information Technology Services. “They ceased operations. They really provided no information.”

Ruckus has been shut down for all users, not only for University students. Its Web site reveals no explanation, saying only, “Unfortunately the Ruckus service will no longer be provided. Thanks.”

“The system’s down,” said Tom Jackson, vice president for public affairs. “We haven’t even been informed why it’s down. We assume they’ve gone out of business, but we don’t know.”

The Student Government Association suggested Ruckus to the University as an alternative to keep students from downloading music illegally.

Although the University does not actively seek students who download illegally, it is required by law to provide the Recording Industry Association of America with information regarding students who have violated the Digital Millennium Copyright Act using the University network.

“Obey the law,” Jackson said. “That’s our policy on all things.”

Efforts to reach the University Judiciary for details on the University’s official downloading policies were unsuccessful Tuesday.

Ruckus allowed users with a valid University e-mail address to download movies and music at no charge.

For a $20 semester fee, students could purchase Ruckus on the Go and transfer their downloaded content onto MP3 players.

DeSimone estimated that one-quarter of University students had logged on to Ruckus at least once since fall 2007.

University subscribers downloaded a daily average of 9,022 songs from Ruckus, according to a February EITS report.

DeSimone urged students to find other ways to continue to listen to or download music legally.

Do It Legally, a University group that advocates legal downloads, offers a list of “legal alternatives” on its Web site at uga.edu/doitlegally.

“At this time, that’s as viable a list as any,” DeSimone said. The list includes iTunes, last.fm, Pandora, Napster and Rhapsody, as well as lesser-known music services. Eventually, the University hopes to find another legal music service to recommend to students.

“We thought we had a good solution, and we’re sorry it apparently failed on us,” Jackson said. “We’ll begin looking for a plan B.”