Still fighting for its life in a mess of horrible legal battles, Sharman Networks released a new version of P2P file swapping program Kazaa on Thursday of this week, which it hopes will help in its legal struggles.

"The new software adds little to the basic functions of the Net's most popular file-swapping program. However, Kazaa users will see an increase in the proportion of advertiser-paid, copy-protected search results as they hunt for their favorite artists or movies, the company said..... In addition to boosting the proportion of copy-protected results returned for each search, the new software includes new built-in tools for organizing libraries of songs, movies and software. Sharman also has added a new search feature for online personals, powered by MatchNet's AmericanSingles.com. "

More annoying rubbish built into Kazaa then? I suppose some irritating spyware is probably in the mix. Still, glad to see that Kazaa is still afloat, with something like 4 million users at any one time (heheh though how many of them are using Kazaa lite? ) I just hope it stays that way, and doesn't go the way of Napster which has become a part of internet history now.

More here.