February 13, 2003.  The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), a global trade group representing the major music labels, said it had begun issuing brochures to thousands of companies spelling out the legal and technological dangers of giving employees access to online file-sharing networks.

"We were surprised to see that peer-to-peer services are being accessed by a lot of companies' computer networks," Allen Dixon, general counsel at IFPI in London told Reuters.

The IFPI blames peer-to-peer networks for part of the decline in recorded music sales over the past two years. Online file-sharing networks such as Kazaa and Morpheus attract millions of consumers daily who swap all manner of music, film and software.

Corporate computers tend to be connected to high-speed networks and have ample storage space, two essentials for downloading large files.

IT experts warn that such connections can greatly slow network speeds and leave a company's computer networks vulnerable to viruses and other digital intrusions.