There was backing today for Qtrax and its offer or free, legal music downloads, even after major record labels denied supporting it. The company's site still says its peer-to-peer client will be available for download at 5am UK tomorrow.

Paul Hogan, managing director of content distribution specialist BiBC issued a statement saying that whatever the attitude of the record companies Qtrax's "bravado" is to be applauded.

He went on: "The commercial model of using advertising revenues to allow consumers to download music for free is one that music industry insiders are increasingly viewing as potentially the future of the industry, especially in trying to stem the tide of illegal downloads."

Hogan says his company has content deals in place with EMI, Turner, Universal, Sony BMG and Ministry of Sound.

We humble hacks have a personal interest in the debate because we also sell digital content online, though with a rather different business model. My own long-held view is that the problems would be alleviated, if not removed, if there was a widely accepted and easy method of micropayments on the web.

People think nothing of putting 50p into a jukebox. They cannot do the equivalent on the web without signing up to an account, which is not going to encourage impulse buying.

I've never figured out why the cost of online transactions is so high – too high to make small one-off payments viable. If the greed of the big finance houses is to blame, they are being very short sighted because they are cutting off a layer of trading that could be even more lucrative and would certainly be healthier for the web economy as a whole.