Kazaa joins the ranks of law-abiding P2P services

All P2P networks must go "establishment" someday, and today another formerly popular P2P service rended by courtroom battles announced it has turned around. Like P2P pioneer Napster did six years ago, this morning, Kazaa (now with just one capital letter) has come back as www.kazaa.com, a subscription-based music service with all of the "big four" major labels in its corner.

For $19.98 a month, Kazaa.com users get unlimited music downloads on up to three PCs, and unlimited ringtone downloads on one mobile phone, but that's it. The service does not support portability and tracks cannot be moved onto MP3 players.

"While these are not the best of economic times, we have every confidence that our marketing and affinity with our customers will have us punching well above our weight in the market," said Kazaa.com CEO Kevin Bermeister.

The re-launch of the former "KaZaA" comes on the heels of the news that popular torrent site The Pirate Bay will also be re-launching as a legal service.