The digital music service Napster is considering a move into digital film distribution, its chairman said at the weekend.

Napster is a poacher-turned-gamekeeper; once a prominent facilitator of illegal file-sharing, it now works with music publishers to offer paid-for music downloads.

The move into film distribution comes as the movie industry finds itself in the same position as the music business a couple of years ago. File-sharing programs such as BitTorrent and eDonkey make it easy for users to share even large files such as digital versions of movies, and the studios are becoming increasingly anxious about the trend.

Chris Gorog, Napster's chairman and chief executive, told delegates at the Midem music industry conference in Cannes that the Napster model could be extended to films and TV. This would give the service an edge on its rival, Apple's iTunes.

The Financial Times quotes Mr Gorog as saying: "We are currently considering moving into video, particularly to tap the younger video-game generation."

Legal movie downloads are already offered in the United States by MovieLink and CinemaNow.