In what strikes me as a rather bizarre development, popular peer-to-peer giant Grokster is releasing an ad-free version of its P2P client that users will cost users $19.99. An ad-filled, free version of the client will still be available to users, pop-ups and all.
I’m not sure how many P2P users Grokster expects to pay for the ad-free version of its client software, which will be called Grokster Pro, but its introduction leaves plenty of room for irony. I can’t imagine that it will be long before warez versions of Grokster Pro are traded freely over Grokster’s own network. And let’s not forget the cracks and keygens that will unlock the ad-free software for anyone with a few minutes to spare.