Needless to say, this file sharing system promotes the widespread distribution of copyrighted music mp3s and has made Kazaa a phenominally succesful programme. In fact, many of the financial problems suffered recently by record company giants EMI were attributed to widespread use of programmes like Kazaa. It's human nature NOT to pay for music when they can get it for free.

Now, it seems all this bad Karma we've been accumulating by downloading free music is set to bite us in the ass.

California-based advertising company, Brilliant Digital Entertainment has been quietly working with Kazaa to turn every PC using the software into a giant computer network controlled by...you guessed it - Brilliant Digital Entertainment! Now here's the best part:

If you've downloaded Kazaa recently, the cances are that this software is already on your machine! (Kazaa was downloaded 2.6 million times last week alone) And over the next 4 to 6 weeks, someone at Brilliant will flick a virtual switch and wake up your computer. Once their programme becomes active they'll be able to use YOUR computer to serve network advertising and use YOUR computer's spare processor cycles to perform network tasks for other companies.

CEO of Brilliant Digital Entertaiment, Kevin Bermeister said, Everybody will get turned on in more or less a simultaneous fashion. This will be an opt-in program...We’re trying to create a secure network based on end-user relationships

I don't know about you but I have NO idea what the hell that means! All I know is that this added feature was installed on my machine without my knowledge or permission. Had I known, I wouldn't have installed it - most people wouldn't. OK, so the guy running the company says that it'll all be done with the users permission. That means f*ck all to me coming from a company that never bothered to seek permission to put this crap on my machine in the first place!

Here's some info on how to remove the Sleeping Software....

1. In the Windows Control Panel, select an option called "Add/Remove Programs." One of the options will be "b3d Projector." Highlight this and click the "Change/Remove" button.

You may get a message that the uninstall has been successful. Search your computer for a "BDE" folder, which most likely will be found in the "WinNT" or "Windows" directory. In this folder will be a file called "bdeclean.exe". Run this to finish the first part of the process. Delete the BDE folder.

Caution: An unrelated piece of software called Borland Database Engine also creates a BDE directory. If you think you may have this software installed, or if there is any confusion whatsoever, do not delete this directory.

2. In the "Temp" directory (this will normally be found inside the "Windows" or "WinNT" directory) is a folder called "Brilliant." This contains many files. Delete the entire folder.

3. After performing steps 1 and 2, you will need to locate and remove some additional Brilliant Digital files that have been placed in critical system-level computer directories. CAUTION: Deleting the wrong files could interfere with the normal functioning of your computer. These files will most likely be in the "WindowsSystem" or "WinNTSystem32" folder:

bdedownloader.dll

dedata2.dll

bdefdi.dll

bdeinsta2.dll

bdeinstall.exe

bdesecureinstall.cab

bdesecureinstall.exe

bdeverify.exe

bdeverify.dll

Delete these files.