Altnet tops 2 million downloads

Altnet, peer-to-peer software distributed along with the popular Kazaa file-swapping software, said Tuesday that it has clocked more than 2 million free downloads since launching its secure digital right management technology in late May. The Altnet indexing system gives people using Kazaa's software access to downloads from specific media partners. Proving popular is Infogrames' "Robot Arena" video game with a soundtrack from rap group MaddWest, attracting an average of 15,000 downloads each week, according to Altnet.

In the next few weeks, the Brilliant Digital Entertainment subsidiary plans to test a micropayment system that will enable content owners to charge for individual media files. Altnet CEO Kevin Bermeister was cautiously confident about persuading content owners of the benefits of digital distribution. "It is pointless launching the service unless we can populate the site with quality content," Bermeister said. "Video game publishers are at the stage where they are more able to publish online...Music distributors are progressing more cautiously, but we are making progress with independent artists."

ZDNet Australia's Jeanne-Vida Douglas reported from Sydney.

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