Limewire, one of the most popular peer-to-peer file sharing applications in the world was recently given a court order telling them to stop distributing and supporting their software which allowed people to download various types of content (music, videos, etc.) online. A US judge ruled in favor of various music companies who filed charges of copyright infringement and unfair competition. If you try logging in Limewire today you’ll see a notice at the home page of the application explaining that they have to stop operations. Here’s a screenshot:
Here’s what the Limewire had to say about the matter:
LimeWire chief executive George Searle said in a statement he was “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,” Searle said. “However, at this time, we have no option but to cease further distribution and support of our software.”
Searle thanked users of the service and said “our team of technologists and music enthusiasts are creating a completely new music service that puts you back at the center of your digital music experience.”
“We’ll be sharing more details about our new service and look forward to bringing it to you in the future,” he said.
The anti-piracy movement is definitely getting a lot of momentum. With the progress being made against Pirate Bay and Limewire, it’s only a matter of time before other players are also pinned down. But then again there are tons of other services available so you have to wonder if this is a battle that can actually be won.
Reference articles: France24
Limewire is another milestone on the ongoing campaign to end piracy. Would they challenge the court decision with an appeal? Or will this be a retold story of Napster? There could be other applications still out there similar to Limewire though not as “famous”. People find quicker ways to get these applications out before the authorities crack them down through legal means.
iTunes has done well in giving back the revenue to the record labels who have dished out money for these music. But it may be a long way to go until we totally eliminate the plague.
I think that’s the main dilemma in the “war against piracy”. There’s just too many options available in the market. For this to work completely they have to be persistent but this will definitely take years (maybe decades) to accomplish.
Does that mean Torrent is nearing its end too?
We live in a hyperlinked world, so piracy will still carry the flags as the days go by.
As we enter the world of increasing connections, the “hole” or the ability to bypass obstacles through links will be larger and larger.
What will happen is that there will be fewer and fewer secrets. We have more knowledge than the company due to conversations.
What they can learn is almost the same of what we can-we all have access to info stuffs.
Anti-Piracy movements are wrong,(unless they live in 18th century or Industrial Age)because human hearts create the future,not companies.
Maybe content companies should think of ways on how they can turn this thing around by exploiting the nature of peer-to-peer downloads for marketing purposes. However I can understand their frustration since piracy really has made a huge dent on their revenues.
frostwire is still around… kaka download ko lang hehehe
there are questions of jurisdiction- for example, a chinese company similar to Limewire has all its servers outside of the US, then it can be argued that the US courts do not have jurisdiction. it may be a counterargument however, that the international treaties governing copyrights are applicable- but we are yet to see the changing landscape of tech litigation unfold. cheers.