Technical measures designed to turn free online file-sharing services into a major source of revenue for the record industry have been proposed by an industry group representing the most popular trading service, Kazaa.
The Distributed Computing Industry Association (DCIA), which represents Kazaa’s parent companies Sharman Networks and Altnet, suggests that music files traded through such networks could be encrypted so that only users who pay a fee will be supplied with the software needed to unlock them.
Peer-to-peer file-sharing networks make use of smart communications and routing protocols that let users scour each other’s hard drives for music or other files that may then be directly downloaded. They provide highly efficient distribution networks, but have also lead to an explosion in online music piracy, according to record industry groups.
The file-sharing companies have good reason to search for a new business model system that would generate some revenue for the music business. Record industry bodies have waged a relentless legal battle against those they alleged to be involved in illegal file-sharing, including Kazaa.
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994251
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