Ruckus officially shut down last week, putting an end to university-sponsored free music downloading for Penn State students and bringing to a close four-and-a-half years of shortsighted thinking.

The university first announced its plans to use student technology fees to provide music downloading software when it launched free Napster service in 2004. Then, in 2007, Penn state broke ties with Napster and began promoting Ruckus.

Now that Ruckus has closed shop, Penn State should not give any thought to signing a contract with any other music downloading service.

Penn State's job is to educate its students, not provide them with entertainment.

We pay money to come here for the education, not to hear T.I.'s latest dope track. Students, meanwhile, should not expect Penn State to provide free music. Much like the university is here to provide and education, students are here to learn. There are plenty of ways to get music legally, so students should use them.

While the idea of trying to curb music piracy is commendable (It is stealing, after all), providing students with a free music downloading service is not the way to do it.

Instead, Penn State should educate students about the problems of breaking copyright law and its possible consequences.

Using Ruckus was a frustrating experience. Due to Digital Rights Management restrictions, only PC users could download the software, and when songs were downloaded they could only be played using the Ruckus player and couldn't be used on iPods or other MP3 players. Many artists also declined to sign with Ruckus so their songs couldn't be downloaded.

Because of the restrictions and drawbacks of Ruckus, unfortunately most students still downloaded their music the easy, old-fashioned way -- illegally. And when students who did use Ruckus graduate, they will most likely revert to illegal downloading.

As one Penn State professor put it, giving students a free downloading service to prevent music theft is comparable to students shoplifting from a Uni-Mart and, instead of being charged, getting checks from Penn State that allow students to continue that action.

It was simply a way to brush the problems of copyright violations aside and was never really an effective option to fight piracy.

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has decided not to pursue new lawsuits against file-sharers. Instead of going after illegal downloaders in the courtroom, the RIAA hopes to join with Internet service providers to warn file-sharers of their illegal activity and then potentially shut off their Internet service.

If the RIAA is making the shift to a more education-based battle against piracy, so can Penn State.

Instead of trying to find a new music downloading service for students, it's time for Penn State to make a shift and begin teaching students why music piracy is such a big deal.