The new Australian owner of file-sharing software KaZaA says her company is is pursuing a fee-paying approach in order to make peace with the recording industry.
Sydney-based Nikki Hemming - who acquired the Dutch-developed KaZaA through her company Sharman Networks in January - confirmed she would seek a deal with the music industry in which the company and others, including internet access providers and hardware manufacturers, would pay a small fee to compensate copyright owners.
The proposal, being pushed in Washington by a lobbyist hired by Sharman Networks, could take record company pressure off KaZaA.
The Napster-like network has been under pressure over the past few months, attracting the ire of the industry for allowing its users to swap copyrighted material.
Legal action has been taken against the original Dutch developers in several jurisdictions, but the creators have won the only case so far.