Movie moguls crack down on Gnutella users

The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) is attempting to recruit US internet service providers (ISPs) in its fight against users of the Gnutella file-sharing system.

The MPAA has written to the ISPs claiming that their users are breaching the Digital Millennium Copyright Act by trading copyrighted movies through Gnutella, according to US reports.

Because Gnutella does not use a central server, groups such as the MPAA have found it difficult to track copyright infringements through the system.

However, it has already persuaded some ISPs, including broadband provider Excite@Home, to threaten users with disconnection if they continue to swap files through Gnutella.

Analysts said it was no surprise that Gnutella had come under fire from the MPAA, and predicted that record industry group the Recording Industry Association of America would join the fight after its battle with Napster was over.

The battle over movie files is not expected to draw in UK users just yet, however. Trade in the files here is believed to be minimal, as few users have the broadband connections needed to easily download the large movie files.