Pownce has been around for a while. It’s not really that popular, but it does have something of a cult following. That following is likely to expand with the news that Pownce has now become a bit more useful with the addition of public filesharing and increased file sizes.

Pownce accounts can now be used for filesharing with anyone with an Internet connection, instead of just other Pownce users. Filesharing can now be done with files of up to 100MB for free users and 250MB for pro-account holders.

Pownce may not be the most or the most useful filesharing service out there, but it’s worth checking out if you’re into new things.

The Pownce service has become popular partly because of its features such as embedded photos, videos and music filesharing. Sharing of links is also a lot easier than with rival Twitter. Check Pownce out for filesharing and more.

Lifehacker asked its readers to vote for their favorite filesharing service recently. More than 200 filesharing services were nominated in the poll, which have been wittled down to five.

The top-five filesharing services on the Web are:

• Box.net, a simple filesharing site that provides up to 1GB of space and can be used from your desktop.
• Drop.io, another simple interface and a filesharing service that can be used without registration. You can even send and receive free faxes.
• MediaFire, which offers users unlimited storage, all for free, with no sign-up.
• Windows Live SkyDrive. Which gives you up to 5GB of free space to use for filesharing.
• FolderShare, which is a syncing tool that makes sharing folders on your desktop a piece of cake.

The poll is still open to determine the web’s top filesharing utility. Go and have your say in the vote and let us know which service you voted for.

The music industry is going through some tough times at the moment. This downturn of fortunes has not been helped by the insurgence of free music downloads  available, formerly though channels such as torrents and Ares and, latterly, through more legitimate sources such as we7 and various providers. Free music downloads is a fact of life in the music industry and it is interesting to see some artists, some studios and some producers embracing the fact while others simply hang onto bygone days when their business model worked.

One shining example of leveraging online user base for money and for massive media coverage was Radiohead’s In Rainbows, offered to the public for download at a price which they picked. Whether this was a success, financially or otherwise, is not known, but it was the first serious attempt to use free music downloads for the good of those who owned the rights. Many other bands have followed the lead here and free music downloads downloads are becoming more of a common sight.

A broadband information website this week came out with the revelation that clamping down on illegal music downloads via filesharing might be too difficult for all involved.

Looking at Internet traffic, according to www.thinkbroadband.com, is tricky and means that enforcing any filesharing laws could be impossible.

Apparently, in order to actually crack down on filesharing, ISPs will need to actively inspect traffic, which will take enormous resources, time and money.

The real issue is the sharing of copyrighted material.

What this means is that the way that some government’s are proposing to deal with filesharing, by cutting of people’s Internet connections, would take massive investment on the part of ISPs.

Inspecting Internet traffic is really an ineffective way of dealing with the problem because it will be so hit and miss.

Surely the millions it will take to enforce these measures would be better spent elsewhere.