If the most powerful emotion is neither love nor hate -- it's got to be the desire to get stuff for free.

That's what one must conclude from an announcement expected today from Sharman Networks, which says its Kazaa Media Desktop has been downloaded 230 million times -- setting the record as the most popular software application ever distributed over the Internet.

In just over a year, the software used to download free music over the Internet has surpassed all other applications distributed through CNet's Download.com site -- including ICQ, the predecessor to AOL's Instant Messenger, and WinZip, the software utility used to open compressed files.

"It's a horrifying number, especially given there are 106 million U.S. households. It shows you the worldwide breadth of file-sharing," said P.J. McNealy, research director for GartnerG2 in San Jose. "It captures the phenomenon that is the Internet. That it has tremendous explosive powers."

Claims questioned

Kazaa's success even dwarfs the most highly publicized software introduction in history -- the debut of Microsoft's Windows 95 computer operating system. It sold 40 million copies in the first year, making it the fastest-selling software ever.

It may even eclipse the number of downloads during the browser wars of 1994-99, when every three to six months brought new, downloadable versions of the Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer.

Precise figures are difficult to obtain, but in 2002, about 66 million U.S. home PC users relied on Explorer, compared with 16 million for Navigator.

Some analysts questioned Kazaa's claims -- noting that Download.com merely points visitors to Sharman Networks' computers and tallies the referrals going through its digital turnstile. It doesn't independently verify the numbers.

"Numbers like this are hard to compare," said Chris Le Tocq, an analyst with Guernsey Research in Los Altos. "The best you can walk away with is, yes, there are a lot of people out there downloading music."

Copyright disputes

While clearly an imperfect counting system, Kazaa has nonetheless blown past perennial favorites like WinZip, which Download.com has ranked in the top five for 344 weeks, according to the site's director, Kelly Green. And it is maintaining a pace of more than 4 million downloads a week. "Give them the chocolate bar," said Le Tocq. "They win."

The recording industry nonetheless found the statistics disturbing.

"It is shameful that these people would actually brag about their success at enabling the theft of other people's creative works," said a spokesman for the Recording Industry Association of America.

"Would they have been so successful without the copyrighted music that tens of thousands of hardworking committed people have labored to produce and not earned a single penny for."

"Do What Thou Wilt Shall Be The Whole Of The Law" - Aleister Crowley 1875-1947

[Link]