Shawn Fanning, who now works with SNOCAP to prevent unauthorised sales or transfers (via peer-to-peer file sharing services) of copyrighted music content, was also the creator of the first prominent illegal P2P service, Napster, which has since relaunched as a legitimate file-sharing service.

Speaking to the AFP news agency following the launch of the alliance with MySpace, SNOCAP's chief executive, Rusty Rueff observed that:

"What Napster did was bring us into the digital music age. Napster opened the funnel and gave us the chance to touch the music universe. Not in a legitimate way that it should have."

He went on to add:

"When Shawn created Napster, he didn't create it to show the world you could rip off music. He did it to show off a particular piece of technology."

Utilising SNOCAP's services, MySpace will now be able to provide artists and record labels with tools that enable them to sell their music from their profile pages and distribute a digital storefront across the community.

The SNOCAP services will enable artists and labels with registered content to set pricing, create stores, and sell their music in mp3 format.

"Up until now bands faced the challenges of content availability, technology and distribution," Tom Anderson, president of MySpace announced earlier this month.

"This music service enables artists and labels to oversee their own commercial and distribution platforms while lowering the barriers for all bands to sell music directly to their fans in a way that's easy and totally legal."

The MySpace and SNOCAP music service is expected to be available broadly in the United States by the end of 2006.