It seems that Sony is determined to get its hands on the big slice of the peer-to-peer download market. After finalizing the agreement with Mashboxx at the end of June, the Japanese company has signed a contract with the iMesh network.

Founded in 1999, based in New York, iMesh is one the original peer-to-peer networks and one of the first to migrate to legal filesharing.

According to the agreement, Sony BMG will provide iMesh with digital content, the networking assuring compensation to registered rightsholders.

Slated to roll out this year, the new iMesh will offer consumers a broad selection of easily accessible content of all genres to be discovered, shared and enjoyed within an active P2P community. Authorized content will be available through ala carte downloads and a subscription sales plan, allowing users unlimited music downloads, for a low monthly fee.

The iMesh site will also open access to a large pool of content culled from multiple sources, including the Gnutella network, that will remain available for unlimited downloads that are free to the user.

The iMesh community will be able to search, sample and download a growing selection of more than 15 million tracks as part of a shared experience. To further assure the compensation of rightsholders, iMesh enables a confirmed rightsholder to register their content and make instant claim for protection and compensation for their works under a mutually agreed formula.