Paid content will invade the Kazaa file-swapping network Monday in a major commercial test of a service that until now has lured millions of people with free music, video and other digital files.
As it was previously reporterted, the Kazaa file sharing software carries also the technology of another peer-to-peer network that can and will be used for commercial purposes. The search keywords the user feeds to Kazaa will also be sent to Altnet and Altnet will give the user paid advertising that matches the search as a result.
Along with finding search results that point to unfettered MP3s, Kazaa users will begin to see links to songs for sale from record labels and advertisements linked to keyword searches.
The move is fraught with controversy as the first application of Altnet, a service from Kazaa partner Brilliant Digital Entertainment that came to light amid a Web privacy storm last month. Some Kazaa users reacted with outrage when they discovered that bits of Altnet had been quietly installed on their computers with the potential to turn their machines into drones at the beck of a little-known company whose ambitions were unknown.
News.com
Along with finding search results that point to unfettered MP3s, Kazaa users will begin to see links to songs for sale from record labels and advertisements linked to keyword searches.
The move is fraught with controversy as the first application of Altnet, a service from Kazaa partner Brilliant Digital Entertainment that came to light amid a Web privacy storm last month. Some Kazaa users reacted with outrage when they discovered that bits of Altnet had been quietly installed on their computers with the potential to turn their machines into drones at the beck of a little-known company whose ambitions were unknown.
News.com
