MP3 sharing technology used in search engine

The programmers behind the Gnutella file swapping system have turned the technology used to swap MP3 files into a powerful web search tool.

The group of open source programmers maintain that the new search engine is real-time and far more targeted than current offerings from companies such as Yahoo and Excite.

Bare bones versions for trial are available at Infrasearch.com to show net users what is possible. Gnutella is one of several free software programs mushrooming around the internet that are fast becoming nightmares for copyright holders such as movie studios and record labels.

Gnutella was developed by programmers at Nullsoft, the online music company bought last year by AOL, which was quick to kill off the project. A beta version, however, had already been posted on the internet and programmers were quick to recognise its possibilities.

Like the controversial Napster software, Gnutella allows thousands of people at a time to hook their computers together and share music libraries, but unlike Napster, the new system allows people to search for any kind of files from music to movies.

It does not, however, have a central point that serves as a directory, so there is no registered company which can be served with copyright lawsuits similar to those that have been raining down on Napster.