And they thought killing napster would end it for the most part...
LOS ANGELES, (Reuters) - Users swapped 1.81 billion media files on Napster (news - web sites)-alternative services like Kazaa, MusicCity and Grokster, which have seen usage rise since Napster shut down in July to legal pressures, a research firm said Monday.
Web research firm Webnoize said these services' October levels represented a 20 percent increase from the 1.51 billion files downloaded during September.
All three applications use software licensed from FastTrack, an Amsterdam-based peer-to-peer technology company, and share the same network.
``The growth of the FastTrack network continues to be astounding,'' said Webnoize analyst Matt Bailey. ``During the last four months the number of users typically logged on has risen by 480 percent, and in November will likely surpass the 1.57 million simultaneous users that Napster, the popular song-swapping service, enjoyed at its peak.''
During October, 1.3 million users were typically logged on to the combined network at any one time, compared to 1 million simultaneous users in September.
Some of these alternatives also allow users to swap movies in addition to songs, which has made the film industry nervous.
On October 3, 28 music and movie companies sued MusicCity, Grokster and FastTrack, which also maintains and develops the Kazaa application. The lawsuit accuses the defendants of ''massive'' copyright infringement.
LOS ANGELES, (Reuters) - Users swapped 1.81 billion media files on Napster (news - web sites)-alternative services like Kazaa, MusicCity and Grokster, which have seen usage rise since Napster shut down in July to legal pressures, a research firm said Monday.
Web research firm Webnoize said these services' October levels represented a 20 percent increase from the 1.51 billion files downloaded during September.
All three applications use software licensed from FastTrack, an Amsterdam-based peer-to-peer technology company, and share the same network.
``The growth of the FastTrack network continues to be astounding,'' said Webnoize analyst Matt Bailey. ``During the last four months the number of users typically logged on has risen by 480 percent, and in November will likely surpass the 1.57 million simultaneous users that Napster, the popular song-swapping service, enjoyed at its peak.''
During October, 1.3 million users were typically logged on to the combined network at any one time, compared to 1 million simultaneous users in September.
Some of these alternatives also allow users to swap movies in addition to songs, which has made the film industry nervous.
On October 3, 28 music and movie companies sued MusicCity, Grokster and FastTrack, which also maintains and develops the Kazaa application. The lawsuit accuses the defendants of ''massive'' copyright infringement.
