Kazaa, the internet site which attracted the fury of the music industry by allowing users to download tunes for free, has ventured into the telecoms sector.

Sharman Networks, the Australian company that distributes Kazaa's controversial file-sharing software, this week began packaging it with internet telephony software developed by Skype Technologies.

Sharman said that the new software would allow users to make free online calls anywhere in the world using the same peer-to-peer (P2P) technology that has allowed music enthusiasts to share their stored songs and films, in many cases in breach of copyright laws.

The relationship between Kazaa and Skype is unprecedented but the two companies are connected. Skype's chief executive Niklas Zennstrom co-created Kazaa before licensing the technology to Sharman after being hit by a series of lawsuits by the recording and film industries.

Analysts see the venture as a possible means of Kazaa moving away from its lawsuit chequered past and using its massive user base to move into less contentious markets.

Kazaa has 300 million users while Skype, which has its headquarters in Luxembourg, claims 30 million downloads, with 900,000 new users downloading the software each week.

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