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By John Borland, 15 July 2003 07:23

NEWS The record industry's crackdown on individuals who trade songs online has caused a drop in the use of file-swapping applications, according to an internet ratings service. Nielsen/Netratings, which monitors web traffic and desktop application use, said use of top file-trading applications such as Kazaa and Morpheus has fallen by 15 per cent since the end of June. On 25 June the Recording Industry Association of America announced it was planning to file what could be thousands of lawsuits against individuals who trade copyrighted music online. Greg Bloom, senior analyst with Nielsen/Netratings, said: "I would definitely say it's not a coincidence that the numbers fell that far. A drop this significant probably has some kind of external cause." Although Nielsen/Netratings' numbers are provisional, and falling internet traffic in the summer can be explained in part by people going away on holiday, the statistic is bound to be closely watched by those with a stake in the copyright debate. A significant element of the RIAA's plan is to persuade large numbers of file traders that putting copyrighted material online is too risky. The number of lawsuits filed, while potentially huge, will still be miniscule compared with the hundreds of thousands or millions of people who use peer-to-peer networks every day. File-trading companies question Nielsen/Netratings figures. StreamCast Networks CEO Michael Weiss, whose company distributes the Morpheus software, said his team has not seen a perceptible drop in the past several weeks. Weiss said: "We're seeing something completely different." He said StreamCast's logs show about 250,000 unique visitors a day and that those visitors actually appear to be staying online longer, based on the number of banner ads each user sees per session. Neilson/Netratings numbers found that Morpheus' figures had dropped 15 per cent from 272,000 unique visitors in the week ending 29 June, to 231,000 unique visitors in the week ending 6 July. The Kazaa software, the most popular file-trading application, also saw usage fall 15 per cent, from 6.5 million to 5.5 million unique users that week, according to Neilson/Netratings. Both measurements are extrapolated from a sample pool of about 50,000 home internet users in the US. By comparison, usage of the popular AOL Instant Messenger application dipped 9 per cent over the same period, said Bloom. Despite denials that the RIAA warnings are having much effect on traffic, most file-swapping companies are scrambling to put new privacy features into their software. StreamCast Networks plans to release a new version of its Morpheus software this week that will let users upload and download files through proxy servers, a venerable if imperfect way for internet users to mask their identities online. RIAA officials have said they are already gathering information about people offering large numbers of copyrighted songs online, and plan to start filing copyright infringement lawsuits next month. John Borland writes for CNET News.com