Despite a pre-trial injunction imposed on Internet music service Napster to block specific music sharing files, students can still download music at alternative sites.

Several companies are experimenting with possible alternatives to Napster creating "clones" of the popular MP3 site.

Snoopstar.com recently finished testing its site but is unsure when or if the system will be used.

Snoopstar is a creation of Bertelsmann eCommerce Group (BeCG), whose logo and icon of a grinning dog are very similar to those of Napster. Its system interface will allow users to search for music, videos and other files downloaded from various file-sharing services that include Napster, Gnutella and iMesh.

In October, Bertelsmann formed an alliance with Napster with the intention of creating a fee-based system, which pays royalties to artists.

Frank Sarfeld, senior vice president and chief communication officer of BeCG, said in an e-mail that the creation of Snoopstar began long before the alliance. He said it wasn't created to be an alternative to Napster, but rather a test subject.

Sarfeld also said BeCG was committed to its relationship with Napster and still plans to support the proposed royalty system.

Two students at a Canadian university have already developed a similar system that allows its users to voluntarily pay royalties to musicians

Their site, Fairtunes.com, is an attempt to bypass the U.S. legal system by offering file sharing services from a server outside of the U.S.

The Web site, which launched in July, allows its users to make voluntary, secure contributions with their credit cards to any artist in the name of a particular song or album they've downloaded. The company will then make contact with the recipient, pass the money on and report back to the contributor.

John Cormie, co-founder of Fairtunes, said many music lovers still buy CDs, but many use MP3s to listen to music. He said his service allows them to pay musicians directly, instead of paying recording agencies.

"These fans are well-meaning, but they probably don't realize what a tiny sliver of the retail price of a CD actually ends up in the artist's pocket," Cormie said. "So the irony is that these people are trying to pay the artist for the music, but they're really paying the recording industry for packaging, promotion, media and distribution --services that because of MP3, they didn't even use!"

Matt Goyer, the other co-founder of Fairtunes, said the service differs from Napster in that it's core business lies in making it possible for users to send money directly to a band, instead of focusing on the actual distribution of music.

So far the Web site has received over $7,000 just in American money in contributions to musicians. Goyer predicts that the service will become more popular in the future.

One alternative already available to students, Aimster, is currently available to users of Instant Messenger services such as American Online (AOL). The service allows Instant Messenger users to share files with members on their buddy lists.

Aimster differs from Napster in that its users can only trade among "buddies" and its service is encrypted so its users can't be spied on by the recording industry, as Aimster says was done to Napster users. Aimster was developed in New York and currently has more than 3 million users.

Johnny Deep, author of several Internet-related books and spokesman for the developers, said the service gives its users more control over who can access its files and allows them to trade not just music, but also any personal content.

Students with Windows 98 or higher and access to AOL, Gnutella, and Microsoft Networking programs of Instant Messenger can use the Aimster application.