"Breaking from the rest of the entertainment industry, record giant Sony BMG is cooperating with the Grokster file-sharing network on a venture that combines free music sampling with paid downloads. Dubbed 'Mashboxx,' the venture marks a surprising alliance between a major record label and an online network that the entertainment industry has blamed for rampant piracy," reports The LA Times [free reg req'd].
"Although many of the details are still in flux, people familiar with Mashboxx said that it would probably work like this: When users search for a Sony BMG track, the system will allow them to download only authorized versions of the song. [...] The idea behind the venture is to let people continue to use file sharing to discover music at no charge, while encouraging them to pay for the songs they want to keep."
