Former Napster COO Michael Bebel Joins Ruckus as CEO
Digital Media Services Company Secures Additional $13M in Financing

Herndon, VA – August 7, 2006 – Ruckus, the premier college-only multimedia service, today announced that Michael Bebel has joined the firm as Chief Executive Officer.  A veteran of the media and entertainment industry, Bebel was formerly COO of Napster and president and CEO of Mashboxx.  He also held a number of executive positions with Universal Music Group (UMG) and Universal Studios.  Ruckus also announced today that it closed $13.7M in new funding.  Battery Ventures, Eastward Capital, Pinnacle Ventures and Shelter Capital participated in this second round of financing.

Ruckus is the only service of its kind built exclusively for the college community. With the Ruckus service, students can legally download music, access Hollywood movies, create a personal profile, and even exchange and share downloaded tracks.
“I can’t imagine a better time to join Ruckus,” said Bebel. “Digital entertainment is exploding and the college community is at the core. They are, without a doubt, the largest, most influential, most hands-on participants in the evolving world of digital content.  The possibilities to serve this demographic and move Ruckus forward are limitless.”

Year-round demand for Ruckus continues to increase from colleges and universities of all sizes across the US.  Already this summer, 15 new schools have signed on, including UC Berkeley, University of Denver, Georgia Tech and University of Oklahoma.  By the start of the Fall 2006 semester, there will be more than 70 schools bringing the Ruckus service to their students.

According to Shih-Pau Yen, Deputy CIO at University of Minnesota, “Our students love Ruckus. It’s free, easy and legal, and goes a long way toward community building and supporting their social life on campus.  The administrators are thrilled and the students are ecstatic, it’s a great solution for all of us.”

“Ruckus is at the very beginning of an exploding trend in digital entertainment, and we’re fortunate to have recruited someone of Mike’s stature to help propel the company forward,” said Scott Tobin, general partner at Battery Ventures. “We have a forward-thinking team with a business model that works and a service that is custom-tailored to a huge and growing market.  The addition of Mike to what we already have in-place gives me incredible confidence in their future.”

Ruckus will use this latest $13.7M investment to continue to scale the business and develop services and partnerships targeted at the college demographic.

About Ruckus
Ruckus is the premier digital entertainment network designed specifically for college students. The Ruckus experience blends college students’ top interests – friends and entertainment – to create a strong sense of community at universities across the country. The company’s academic initiative, Ruckus on Reserve, offers college professors and libraries the same fast, flexible access to multimedia content for classroom use. Today, the Ruckus service is available to hundreds of thousands of U.S. college students and is quickly becoming the brand of choice for higher education institutions nationwide. For more information, please go to www.ruckus.com.

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For more information contact:

Charlie Moore
Ruckus
cmoore@ruckus.com
703.464.6500

Karen Bommart
Battery Ventures
kbommart@battery.com
781.577.1000

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