A rock band-sponsored website called stopnapster.com has recommended the music industry use malicious code to halt the spread of Napster, the controversial file swapping service.

Funded by independent US band The Tabloids, stopnapster.com was launched yesterday to "educate the public on the hazards Napster poses for musicians". It suggested that record producers should create Trojan Horse MP3 files that are interspersed with anti-piracy speeches.

According to a declaration on the site, "the Trojan Horse does nothing to hurt your drive, computer or files, but it's annoying."

A Trojan Horse is a program disguised as another file. Running the file can enable an attacker to steal account passwords, modify or erase files, and use the victim's computer to perform denial of service attacks on others.

Stopnapster.com suggests that these files could be loaded onto servers and dispersed to high-speed Lans with dynamic IP addresses and then uploaded to file sharing services.

The website claims MP3 had promised to give artists access to a broad market without the distribution overheads, but that the technology is now being used to "pirate copyrighted material on a scale never before imagined".

"The practical effect is to put signed artists deeper into debt to major record labels," it continues.

Tracy Robinson, owner of The Tabloids' label, Endless Loop Records, said: "[The] Tabloids obviously will take a considerable amount of heat from Napster supporters, but we feel it's important to give small labels and independent artists a voice about Napster's potentially disruptive effects on their careers."

The site also lists the names of artists that have spoken out against Napster including Metallica, Dr Dre and Creed, whose lead singer, Scott Stapp, is quoted as saying that Napster "is robbing me blind".