AltNet's dormant programs will awaken some time in May to ask for your cash, storage space, and system cycles.

It sounds like a "B" movie plot: Return of the PC Snatchers.

Millions find their PCs' bandwidth and hard disk space siphoned for mysterious but worthy-sounding scientific projects, just because they downloaded the client for a music- and file-swapping program.

But wait, there's more: The increasingly popular Kazaa file-sharing network will reap fees for allowing a partner to piggyback its dormant software on downloads of Kazaa's client. Within weeks, Kazaa users will see the premiere of ads offering Altnet audio and video content for sale. The selection will appear alongside -- but distinguishable from -- Kazaa content on the Kazaa Media Desktop, says Kevin Bermeister, chief executive of Brilliant Digital, parent company of Altnet.

The new offerings will appear in the company of banner ads from online advertising behemoth DoubleClick, with which Kazaa recently cut a deal. And if your PC shares its downtime processing cycles with Altnet, you could be paying for Kazaa Media Desktop services with a chunk of your PC rather than a lump of cash.


Tom Spring, PCWorld.com
Friday, May 03, 2002

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