[Dilmah G]

http://www.tgdaily.com/business-and-law-features/52210-limewire-squeezed-out-of-existence

The Lime Group received a permanent injunction from US district judge Kimba Wood yesterday. Its site now displays a message reminiscent of the lines imposed by a stern teacher:

"This is an official notice that LimeWire is under a court-ordered injunction to stop distributing and supporting its file-sharing software. Downloading or sharing copyrighted content without authorization is illegal," it reads.

The injunction is the latest, and probably last, step in a long-running copyright infringement lawsuit from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), filed all the way back in 2006.

In May, the RIAA won summary judgment, and filed for a permanent injunction which has now been put into force.

"Naturally, we’re disappointed with this turn of events. We are extremely proud of our pioneering history and have, for years, worked hard to bridge the gap between technology and content rights holders," says Limewire CEO Gorge Searle in a statement.

"However, at this time, we have no option but to cease further distribution and support of our software."

There will be a hearing to set damages in January, which could see LimeWire handing over as much as $1 billion.

But while it may be the end for LimeWire, the Lime Group still isn't giving up. Searle says his team is working on a new music service, saying the company now plans to try and work with the music industry.

Lime has apparently been talking to all four of the major labels behind the RIAA. It's been working on a legal music service, Spoon, for some months, but has found music publishers just a tad reluctant to play ball - we wonder why.

Bit disappointing. But justified nonetheless.

[Klaustrophobia]

i actually HAVE used limewire to get legal things.

[karajorma]

Who the hell still uses Limewire anyway?

[Nuke]

this kinds thing is stupid. its like holding auto manufacturers responsible for drunk driving. granted id never actually use limewire. such programs became old skool the first time i used a torrent. but it seems wrong to me to shut down the development of a piece of software simply on the grounds that it has been abused by its users (and most likely voiding the eula in the process). also that there are a million and one other ways you can infringe copyrights and it likewise seems wrong to single one way in particular. the best way to steal movies has always been to borrow dvds and spin off a copy, why is software that lets you do this still on the market, while a general purpose file mover gets canned. windows media player has been able to rip cds for years, why has nobody sued microsoft? i dont mind the companies wanting to enforce their copyrights, but it seems there are less arbitrary and more effectual ways to accomplish this. if they shut down torrents today, someone would release another piece of software to take its place tomorrow. then you have the fact that torrent is open source, then what, a court order to destroy the codebase. sounds a lot like book burning.

[NGTM-1R]

Who the hell still uses Limewire anyway?

I'm sure it's more convenient then torrenting entire discographies to find one song.

[Dilmah G]

Indeed.

Argh, immediate alternative I saw was Ares, but that just doesn't seem to have as many seeds as limewire (understandably).

[iamzack]

WOW, I GUESS I'LL JUST HAVE TO GO OUT AND BUY CDS FROM NOW ON. I HAVE SEEN THE ERROR OF MY WAYS. THANKS, RIAA!

[karajorma]

I'm sure it's more convenient then torrenting entire discographies to find one song.

You can download single files from within a torrent so it's only slightly more convenient.


What I mean is that I'm just surprised that anyone is still using that program. I'd lumped it in the same category as Napster and Kazaa already. So RIAA have spent years trying to shut down a program that most technically literate people had moved on from anyway.

[iamzack]

You act like they're trying to accomplish something other than making more money. Who cares if no one uses limewire? They're getting a billion dollars.

[karajorma]

And you do have to wonder how much of that money is going to end up in the pockets of the "Starving artists" we're continually told about.

[General Battuta]

Who the hell still uses Limewire anyway?

I'm sure it's more convenient then torrenting entire discographies to find one song.

Er, why wouldn't you just select the song you're after? You can do that with torrents.

[Dilmah G]

Yeah, Kara pointed that out earlier.

And funnily enough, limewire was also my torrenting client until today. Argh, frakking litigants.

[General Battuta]

Yeah, Kara pointed that out earlier.

Thanks for the tip. Now I can reallocate my vespene gas to another post.

[Dilmah G]

You do that.

[Nuke]

Who the hell still uses Limewire anyway?

I'm sure it's more convenient then torrenting entire discographies to find one song.

im one of those people who needs to have the whole album for archival purposes.

And you do have to wonder how much of that money is going to end up in the pockets of the "Starving artists" we're continually told about.

whats cool is a lot of those artists have broken off from the parasite that is the music industry and formed their own labels. such bands thrive while labeled bands are forced to conform to what the industry wants while being supported by lame but megalithic pop stars whos music is nothing more than a decade's worth of gimmicks and loaded with themes historically known to a science to attract the masses, with massive teenage followings and stupid parents that give them the money to buy into it. its obvious which bands produce more art and less marketing.

artists are really starting to realize that they dont need the industry. you can get better quality with cheap off the shelf equipment today than you could get with professional grade equipment from 10 years ago. the internet gives bands a chance to be heard, and provides advertising for free and a means to market. soon the industry will collapse under its own weight. it might manage to scrape along with the same recycled garbage that its been producing for the last decade, but it will never produce anything that i would call art.

[Herra Tohtori]

Google should, like, totally cease and desist their search engine functions.

'Cause, like, it finds a lot of copyrighted material.

[jr2]

Illegal Materials
The Program, like all peer-to-peer ("P2P") programs, is capable of being used to share materials that the copyright owner has not authorized be shared. It is unlawful to use the Program to infringe the intellectual property rights of others, or to share, distribute or download others' protected, proprietary and/or confidential information without authorization, or to search for, send, share, distribute or download unlawful pornographic materials, including child pornography (collectively "Illegal Materials"). By using the Program you agree and represent that you will not use the Program to share, distribute or download Illegal Materials. For more information concerning copyrights and peer-to-peer click here.

Indemnity

You hereby agree to indemnify and keep indemnified Lime Wire, any of its officers, employees, agents, subsidiary companies, holding companies and/or the officers, employees and/or agents of each from and against any and all costs, claims, demands, liabilities, expenses, damages or losses (including without limitation consequential losses, loss of profit and loss of reputation, and all interest, penalties and legal and other professional costs and expenses) arising out of your breach of any of the terms of this License or in any way connected to your use or misuse of the Program or any part thereof.

LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

YOU UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT IN NO EVENT SHALL LIME WIRE BE LIABLE WHETHER IN CONTRACT, WARRANTY, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), PRODUCT LIABILITY OR STRICT LIABILITY, EVEN IF LIME WIRE HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES, FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS OR REVENUE, LOSS OF PRIVACY, LOSS OF USE OF ANY COMPUTER OR SOFTWARE INLUCDING THE PROGRAM, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, LOSS OF BUSINESS INFORMATION GOODWILL, USE, DATA OR OTHER INTANGIBLE OR PECUNIARY LOSSES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, THOSE RESULTING FROM:

THE USE OR THE INABILITY TO USE THE PROGRAM;
UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO OR ALTERATION OF YOUR INFORMATION OR DATA;
INFECTION OF YOUR EQUIPMENT BY VIRUSES OR OTHER MALICIUS SOFTWARE;
CONDUCT OF ANY THIRD PARTY USING THE PROGRAM; OR
ANY OTHER MATTER RELATING TO THE USE OF THE PROGRAM.
ANY DATA DOWNLOADED THROUGH THE USE OF THE SOFTWARE IS DONE AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION AND RISK AND YOU WILL BE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE TO YOUR COMPUTER SYSTEM OR LOSS OF DATA THAT RESULTS FROM THE DOWNLOAD OR USE OF ANY SUCH MATERIAL.

(emphasis added)

And you do have to wonder how much of that money is going to end up in the pockets of the "Starving artists" we're continually told about.

IMHO?  None.  /me bets some "pro-intellectual-rights" politicians get hefty donations from that, thought. 

Yeah, Kara pointed that out earlier.

And funnily enough, limewire was also my torrenting client until today. Argh, frakking litigants.

utorrent ... lean, mean, green machine 

[Nuke]

i like utorrent, its simple to the point, and you can filter out ips owned by anti-p2p organizations.

[NGTM-1R]

Er, why wouldn't you just select the song you're after? You can do that with torrents.

You have this crazy notion there might be more than one you'd like.

[General Battuta]

Er, why wouldn't you just select the song you're after? You can do that with torrents.

You have this crazy notion there might be more than one you'd like.

Who the hell still uses Limewire anyway?

I'm sure it's more convenient then torrenting entire discographies to find one song.

qed'd'd