Copyright Law

KaZaA Offers ?Unlimited Music Downloads? for $19.98 p/mo

By soulxtc

Wants to compete with Apple’s iTunes.

KaZaA, one the dominant file-sharing program in the P2P community, is apparently doing all it can to try and make money from the millions who still use the program to share music, movies, and more illegally with one another.

Those that are afraid of getting busted by copyright holders can now download “as much music as your computer can handle” from KaZaA itself for $19.98 p/mo. The price also includes unlimited ringtone downloads (yeah).

Kazaa is also planning to release a major new addition to the service in the hopes that it will “shake up the online media industry,” currently dominated by Apple’s iTunes. Kazaa hopes to build brand loyalty and differentiate themselves from other digital music services like iTunes, Napster, Amazon and Rhapsody.

For an additional fee the new service will allow Kazaa members the ability to upload and share video content direct with other members of the Kazaa community via a player due to be released soon. This is a feature that may actually make it worth the probable $30-$40 subscription fee for those looking for the selection of P2P, but without any of the inherent legal risks.

“With the invention of HD and the popularity of current social networking came a realization that the public could now interact with all forms of media in a social network environment for the purpose of business or pleasure,” reads a KaZaA press release. “We have been working to enhance the platform in order to deliver the most complete package on the market. Satisfied customers have always been our backbone and we have dedicated this functionality to them. Value for money is what we represent and with the recession people are closely monitoring their expenditure, of course we will continue working on the progression of our product with several free additions in the company pipeline.”

Moreover, it’s an odd sight to see KaZaA working overtime to turn itself into a legitimate online media distribution entity. If the entertainment industry had allowed it to do this 8 or 9 years ago it could’ve been a contender, but now I think it’s far too late in the game.

Stay tuned.

jared@zeropaid.com

Full post as published by ZeroPaid on July 20, 2009 (boomark / email).