No matter how little you paid, it's not much use if you can't exchange files with the other 94 percent.

In general, it's free, amateurs' network that allows its members to exchange emails and files.

From firmware version 2.00 it can also exchange files with other Bluetooth devices.

There are about 1,500 American credit bureaus, many of which are linked electronically so they can exchange files.

The Internet is a global web of more than 30,000 networks that are used by roughly 20 million people to exchange files and electronic mail.

In the case of Napster, users exchanged files that they stored on their home computers.

In addition, the service permits users to exchange files - including music, movies, word documents and graphics - that they store on their hard drives.

The company says that even if it ceased operations entirely, people who already have the software would be able to exchange files.

However, as forks can make it difficult to exchange files with other operating systems, this feature is not in common use.

Millions of music lovers can now exchange files online every day, using various file-sharing systems.