By Mary Lisbeth D’Amico

In a new wrinkle on the idea of file sharing, a startup called izimi launched a desktop application Monday that will allow users to share music, video, photos and other kinds of files right from their PCs in a new way that could facilitate unauthorized content swapping.

Instead of uploading files to a content-sharing site, users who download izimi’s software use what the company calls a secure “peer-to-browser” technique to give other people access to their files.

Izimi users receive a URL that they send to others to access the files using a standard web browser. Recipients don’t have to install the application themselves. There is no limit on the file type, size, or quality that users can share, the company said.

“People are now able to completely control their own media without relying on external servers,” said izimi CEO Marc Lyne in a statement. Anyone can publish and serve the content of their choice to anyone else on the web, without needing any technical know-how, he added.

The privately held company, with headquarters in both San Francisco, California, and Oxford, United Kingdom, has received $3 million in venture capital funding. The company was founded by Nigel Robertson and Chris Chedgzoy, founding members of the startup Scoot. Company executives could not immediately be reached for comment.

Social Networking

Izimi said it separately provides a social networking site, in which registered users can create profiles and communicate with one another. Content published via izimi can be searched and found via the web site.

Jaap Favier, an Internet analyst with Forrester Research in Amsterdam, foresees problems with an application like izimi, as it could make it easier to publish illegal content.

“This seems like a solution in search of a problem,“ he said. “It could be useful for publishers of illegal content. But I doubt publishers are eager to leave such content on their own PC, since that would only make it easier for the authorities to track them down.”