Kazaa users can now get hold of a hacked version of the peer-to-peer file sharing software which claims to be spyware free.

Earlier this month Kazaa users discovered that the client software includes what is effectively a Trojan program which connects to another network called Altnet and taps the user's processing power and storage space.

Brilliant Digital Media, the company behind the stealth peer-to-peer software, plans to activate the software on users' machines in the next few weeks and sell the resources to be used for distributed computing.

But recently released Kazaa Lite software is a hacked-up version of the Kazaa client without the third party software or banner adverts.

Created by a Russian programmer known only as 'Yuri', the illicit Kazaa Lite was developed as an alternative 'non-misleading' version of the software.

Kazaa Lite has also caught the attention of Sharman Networks, the developer of the original Kazaa software. Sharman said that it will vigorously defend its rights but has not said that it will take legal action against Kazaa Lite.

It would be difficult to block Kazaa Lite clients from accessing the Kazaa network simply because of the openness of the system which lets millions of users log on simultaneously.

KazaaLite.com has reported over 80,000 downloads since the program was released and no interoperability problems with the Kazaa network.

More info can be found at Kazaalite.com.