File-sharing paid-for tunes

It has become a trend: More and more pay-per-tune services are offering file-sharing of tunes their customers purchase. MusicMatch is the latest to join in, the Washington Post reports. "Like Napster 2.0 [and unlike Apple's iTunes], MusicMatch subscribers can share playlists with fellow subscribers and others who don't subscribe to the service," according to the Post. "Unlike Napster, which only allows nonsubscribers to listen to 30-second song snippets, MusicMatch allows songs to be played three times before the songs lock. Then only 30-second cuts can be heard." This is quite likely the direction iMesh will take later this year, after its recent $4.1 million settlement with the RIAA that included an agreement to shut down free file-sharing altogether.