DailyTech - RIAA Sues LimeWire Over Copyright Infringement

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Internet RIAA Sues LimeWire Over Copyright Infringement
Tim Thorpe (Blog) - August 4, 2006 9:13 PM

33 comment(s) - last by masher2.. on Aug 7 at 9:41 PM

The RIAA has sued another P2P software company and is asking $150,000 per illegally downloaded song discovered

The RIAA has filed yet another lawsuit in its crusade against peer-to-peer file sharing networks, this time targeting the popular LimeWire network.

In the complaint the RIAA alleges that Lime Group LLC and its associates "actively facilitating, encouraging and enticing'' its users to steal music and that the company is doing nothing to block access to copyrighted works. The RIAA further alleges that Lime Group LLC has built a business model that allows them to directly profit from piracy.

LimeWire began operating in 2000 and has since become the program of choice among P2P users as other P2P companies have shut down or changed their business models to allow legal file trading. Last year the US Supreme Court ruled that P2P companies could be sued for copyright infringement if they were found to encourage piracy when the court ruled in the Gorkster case. The RIAA is seeking damages including at least $150,000 for each illegally downloaded song.

The suit comes only days after the RIAA settled a lawsuit with Sharman Networks, the company that distributes Kazaa. Record labels Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Vivendi Universal, Warner Music and EMI Group are behind this latest file sharing related lawsuit. As part of "going legit," the P2P network Kazaa recently agreed to pay record labels $100M USD in a bulk settlement.

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Hasn't everyone moved on?

By Falloutboy on 8/5/2006 10:59:26 AM , Rating: 2

haven't most downloaders moved on from these type of programs to torrents or newsgroups?

RE: Hasn't everyone moved on?

By Xavian on 8/5/2006 11:07:20 AM , Rating: 2

Torrents are for larger files (like whole CD's) and Newsgroups can be a major pain to sort out, let alone the monthly fee to get any form of decent speed.

P2P networks are still amazing for downloading single songs or a small collection of songs. That is if you know how to avoid virus' and dud music files.

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