Los Angeles, October 25: File-sharing network iMesh, once a Napster-style service that was sued for allowing illegal song-swapping, said it plans on Tuesday to launch a new pay service.

The launch of iMesh marks the latest step by so-called peer-to-peer services following a Supreme Court decision in June that found online file-sharing services can be held liable for the copyright violations of their users.

Peer-to-peer networks allow users to connect directly instead of having their computers link through a centralized machine.

Once one of the most popular of post-Napster song-swapping networks, iMesh, formed in 1999, was sued by the record labels in 2003 for copyright infringement and settled for $4.1 million.

The privately held company hired former Sony Music President Robert Summer as executive chairman to handle negotiations with the music industry.