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Internet2 users in US colleges developed an application called i2hub which can swap songs in less than 20 seconds, movies in five minutes. According to the president of the Motion Picture Association of America, Dan Glickman, there were around 7,000 users on Monday, one of whom was sharing 328 films.

Unlike P2P networks on the Web, i2hub is a centralised system, much like the original Napster, which is hardly surprising since it was founded by Wayne Chang, a former Napster executive.

Chang told <

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The Washington Post that it works much like an Internet chat application.

'We do not host any offending files on our servers, nor do we have an index of files,' he said.

The MPAA said that it would be easy for the administrators to simply disable the software or deploy filters to block copyrighted material.

The MPAA has yet to reveal how many lawsuits it plans to file but the Recording Industry Association of America announced 405 lawsuits yesterday.

'This is an emerging epidemic,' RIAA president Cary Sherman said. 'We cannot allow a zone of lawlessness where the normal rules do not apply.'

The two organisations said that, for now, they were not taking legal action against the i2hub developers, but warned them to desist.

'We know who you are,' Glickman said. 'And we strongly encourage you to stop what you are doing.'

Previously Internet2 has made the news when it has been used to break the Internet land speed record. The current record stands at 7.21Gbps, set in January. For more information on Internet2 go to www.internet2.edu.