The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has launched a website to collect payments from those accused of music piracy. 

P2Plawsuits.com is designed to cut back on the number of lawsuits filed by the RIAA, which it says will reduce the legal cost to those found guilty of downloading music illegally. 

The RIAA has already sent 400 pre-litigation settlement letters to 13 universities and has asked them to forward those letters to the appropriate network users.

"Under this new approach, a student, or other network user, can settle the record company claims against him or her at a discounted rate before a lawsuit is ever filed," the RIAA said.

Mitch Bainwol, chief executive of the RIAA, claimed that the theft of music remains unacceptably high and undermines the industry's ability to invest in new music.

"This is especially the case on college campuses, despite innovative business models like the Ruckus offer of free legal music to any college student," he said. 

"Our work with college administrators has yielded real progress, and we are grateful for the help of those who have worked closely with us.

"At the same time, we recognise that the nature of online music theft is changing, and we need to adjust our strategies accordingly."

The RIAA stated that it will now target Ares and Gnutella-based peer-to-peer networks such as LimeWire, which are gaining in popularity.