Internet2 announced Friday that both the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) have joined the consortium as corporate members. The two groups plan to assist in creating methods to distribute content using digital rights management technologies.

The move comes less than five months after the RIAA first unleashed the legal hounds on Internet2 users trading copyrighted material on college campuses. All told, nearly 500 college students were sued for trading files over the next-generation Internet network.

"We look forward to collaborative work with a broad spectrum of Internet2's members to develop new technologies that will enable us to produce and distribute digital content over next generation networks in ways that protect and enhance the value of creative works," Cary Sherman, president of the RIAA said.

The organizations plan to use Internet2 as a "testbed" to try out new ways of securely delivering content that are currently not possible on standard Internet networks.

"The movie industry is committed to working with the technology sector to find innovative new ways to deliver entertainment to consumers," Dan Glickman, president of MPAA said. "The MPAA views this partnership with Internet2 as an important opportunity for collaboration as we seek to link new delivery models with content protection."

It's not clear if the RIAA and MPAA's direct sponsorship of Internet2 will give the groups additional access to information on those using the network for illicit file swapping.