LimeWire Sued Again... How Many Times Does The Industry Want To Kill It?

from the adding-lawsuit-to-injunction dept

Wed, Jun 16th 2010 6:03pm — Mike Masnick

The RIAA is still fighting to force LimeWire to shut down completely after its legal win over the company. Given the nature of the initial ruling, it seems pretty likely that LimeWire is fighting a losing battle. Recently lots of folks were discussing the ridiculous damages that the RIAA is claiming LimeWire owes. On top of that, however, it looks like the music publishers have decided to pile on as well, and have filed a separate copyright infringement lawsuit against LimeWire. Honestly, this seems like it's just for the sake of vanity, or to be able to primp and preen for its members about how it's "doing something." The initial lawsuit will almost certainly kill off Limewire as a company. This new lawsuit can't kill it again. It's just a waste of time and money. Meanwhile, LimeWire users will have just moved on and will continue sharing files.

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Filed Under: copyright, file sharing, lawsuits
Companies: limewire, nmpa, riaa

31 Comments

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FUTURE ACTA ENFORCER, 16 Jun 2010 @ 6:13pm

For now.
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Anonymous Coward, 16 Jun 2010 @ 6:25pm

It can't kill it again, but maybe it can get the publishers a cut of its corpse.
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Jay (profile), 16 Jun 2010 @ 6:26pm

Re: YAARGH!
This be a sinkin' ship and all the rats be flootin' ta newer isles!

I not be joinin in the mutiny! I be one ta see this down ta da bitter end!

Ye laws be overpowerin' but we be a resilient lot! We go ta greener pastures and findin' da better music with ones not worried with turnin' the world to criminals for data!

Try again, ya one eyed wallop!

YAAARGH!
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Anonymous Coward, 16 Jun 2010 @ 6:37pm

The sad thing is Limewire is open source and there is already a viable alternative in the form of Frostwire, which has been around for about 5 years.
add to that the number of proxy services that are available which are now lowering prices to lure an influx of new users scarred by industry warning letters.

short of massive government intervention file sharing will never stop.
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Anonymous Coward, 16 Jun 2010 @ 6:49pm

limewire is 90% viruses anyway. I have a friend I do PC work for and I have to repair his OS every couple months cause of some file he downloaded that was infected. This is a non-story since anyone that uses Limewire knowing of the rampant infections deserves to get screwed.
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PaulT (profile), 16 Jun 2010 @ 6:49pm

Timely...
Slightly tangential, but this seems to be a good place to share...

It's *very* late where I am, and I was just clearing up a few things. I thought I'd check out a couple of videos from when I was at the Sonar festival in Barcelona a couple of years ago, and one of the acts there was Detroit Techno legend Jeff Mills. Among the related videos was a project I'd never heard of before - apparently, a few years ago, Mills did a live concert with a live orchestra (whose parts he arranged himself) named Blue Potential.

The *full* DVD is available at the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wPbNf1jhzM&NR=1

It's fantastic. 2 hours ago, I didn't know this existed. Now, I've bought the DVD and I'm looking forward to seeing it on a big screen in decent quality. That's the lesson - create interesting, quality music instead of homogenised crap and people will buy.

My only regret now is that I wasn't at that concert. YouTube is technically responsible for "piracy", but how do you buy a DVD you don't know exists? Here's to independent music...
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Marcel de Jong (profile), 17 Jun 2010 @ 2:10am

Re: Re: YAARGH!
I don't consider myself a pirate, but rather a content freedom fighter. :)
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corberlaw (profile), 17 Jun 2010 @ 2:31am

they should call me, I'm a great lawyer!
Tried to call someone at Limewire 2 days ago to help out the legal team. Difficult finding out exactly who to contat. I'll keep trying and if all els fails I'll file as a friend of th court.
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2010 @ 3:44am

Re: Re: Re: YAARGH!
If 'crime fighters' fight crime, and 'fire fighters' fight fire, what do you fight?
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Hephaestus (profile), 17 Jun 2010 @ 6:58am

Re:
"short of massive government intervention file sharing will never stop."

Massive government intervention will only cause the file transfer systems to become more secure and less visible. Massive government intervention will lead to jail time, with 40% of the population of the US downloading 1 movie or more a month, and untold numbers of mp3's its a loosing battle that cant be won just from the perspective of imprisonment. If they begin fining people it will lead to a massive back lash. Fining people or implementing 3 strikes will lead to a backlash against ISP's, politicians, and the labels and studios.

No matter what they do the end result is the same, media price approaching or equal to zero, large corporations being priced out of the market due to the financial overhead on large corporations, smaller companies taking the place of larger ones for content creatition.
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Overtkill (profile), 17 Jun 2010 @ 11:05am

Re: Re: YAARGH!
Aye Captain Jay! Tis the spirit of we old sea dogs that'll keep a sailin' through this storm!

This Capt'n's with ye matey!

AARRRR!
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Overtkill (profile), 17 Jun 2010 @ 11:18am

Content...
It boils down to a couple of things for me. I tend to try before I buy. If I like what I try, I buy it. Plain and simple. This goes for many forms of things I d/l.

The funny thing is that I discourage others from doing this sort of thing (bittorrent) because of its inherent dangers to both the user and the users' computer. My clients tend to listen, but for a few that don't, and don't practice safe internet sex with the files they pull in, they pay the price.

Limewire is just one flavor of many capable software applications to meet the demand. I feel that what really needs to happen to the RIAA and the MPAA, is that the courts need to start charging these @ssholio corporations for these types of 'rinse and repeat' lawsuits. They're trying to flog a virtual corpse for gods sake!
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The Groove Tiger (profile), 17 Jun 2010 @ 12:16pm

Kill me once, shame on - shame on you. Kill me - you can't get killed again.
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Rekrul, 17 Jun 2010 @ 1:54pm

Re: Content...
The funny thing is that I discourage others from doing this sort of thing (bittorrent) because of its inherent dangers to both the user and the users' computer.

How is there any more "inherent" danger to a computer in using file sharing networks than there is in downloading from a web site? An EXE can be infected no matter where it's from. By the same token, downloading media files, such as MP3, AVI, etc, poses no more danger to a computer when downloaded from a P2P network than if it's downloaded from anywhere else.
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BigKeithO (profile), 17 Jun 2010 @ 2:00pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: YAARGH!
Fights for 'Contents' freedom?
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chris (profile), 17 Jun 2010 @ 2:54pm

Re: Re:
Massive government intervention will only cause the file transfer systems to become more secure and less visible. Massive government intervention will lead to jail time, with 40% of the population of the US downloading 1 movie or more a month, and untold numbers of mp3's its a loosing battle that cant be won just from the perspective of imprisonment. If they begin fining people it will lead to a massive back lash. Fining people or implementing 3 strikes will lead to a backlash against ISP's, politicians, and the labels and studios.

you're not thinking big enough. the US has invaded countries for natural resources, what about invasions to stop copyright infringement?

http://craphound.com/overclocked/Cory_Doctorow_-_Overclocked_-_After_the_Siege.html
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2010 @ 4:40pm

as always, mike misses the point. right now it is all about getting judgements, as many as you can, to create legal precedents. each player involved steps up, takes a swing at the limewire penyada, and each one knocks a few more legal candies onto the ground for everyone to enjoy. that limewire is still actually alive and functioning is an indication that another lawsuit isnt a bad idea.

sorry mike, you booted this story as well. you have a pretty low batting average this week.
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Jun 2010 @ 6:12pm

Re:
I'll just leave this right here: http://thepiratebay.org/
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Overtkill (profile), 18 Jun 2010 @ 3:50pm

Re: Re: Content...
That's easy.

Usually when you download content from the web from someone reputable, the file has been provided by a company or someone who took measures to make sure the file was in good shape. IE -Scanned and tested for Viruses, malware and the sort.

File sharing networks expose files to the average Joe's hard drive, and as such, are subject to the average Joe's security practices. We all know someone who claims or claimed never to need virus/malware protection, and all it takes is one of these people to re-seed an infected file.

Though I know there are rare examples companies unknowingly posting a file, or distributing something infected, This happens far less than what you get from the public via file sharing. You cannot honestly say that you have never downloaded something from Bit-torrent that was infected with something fun. :)

I choose to get the bulk of what I download by legitimate means (Software, drivers, media, etc.). When I decide to play Russian roulette, My preferred method to get my cargo matey, is not the usual file sharing method. Its faster and safer, and that's all I am going to say.
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Rekrul, 20 Jun 2010 @ 10:43am

Re: Re: Re: Content...
That's easy.

Usually when you download content from the web from someone reputable, the file has been provided by a company or someone who took measures to make sure the file was in good shape. IE -Scanned and tested for Viruses, malware and the sort.

File sharing networks expose files to the average Joe's hard drive, and as such, are subject to the average Joe's security practices. We all know someone who claims or claimed never to need virus/malware protection, and all it takes is one of these people to re-seed an infected file.

Though I know there are rare examples companies unknowingly posting a file, or distributing something infected, This happens far less than what you get from the public via file sharing. You cannot honestly say that you have never downloaded something from Bit-torrent that was infected with something fun. :)

Yes, but you're comparing downloading legitimate copies of programs from legitimate sources to downloading pirated/cracked copies of programs/games. Any pirated program carries a risk, whether you download it from a P2P network, newsgroups or the web. I mean if you're going to go on a forum and download the latest version of Photoshop from a set of Rapidshare links, you have the same chances of getting a virus as you do if you get it through BitTorrent. The fact that a pirated program is on a file sharing network doesn't make it any more risky than anywhere else, and getting pirated programs from others sources isn't necessarily any safer than getting them with P2P.

Also, if a user sticks to only downloading data files, such as music and movies, there's no risk at all. Well, they should probably avoid WMV/ASF/WMA files, but that's good advice no matter what (unless they come from a known legit source). :)

I choose to get the bulk of what I download by legitimate means (Software, drivers, media, etc.). When I decide to play Russian roulette, My preferred method to get my cargo matey, is not the usual file sharing method. Its faster and safer, and that's all I am going to say.

I also have a different preferred method for such stuff, which is faster and (legally) safer. Downloading randomly posted programs is still a risk though. I've gotten older games that were fine and recent programs that were infected. :)
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JayAre, 21 Jun 2010 @ 2:08pm

Injunctions
The injunctions issued in this suit are key. They help prevent years of litigation which is why LimeWire is all but outdated by the time the court ruling comes out.

See also:

http://legalmatch.typepad.com/intellectualproperty/2010/06/limewire-lawsuit-courts-struggle -to-keep-pace-with-technology.html
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Anonymous Coward, 22 Jun 2010 @ 6:00pm

CONSPIRACY THEORY!!!! Record Labels are planting viruses into P2P shareware sites by hosting thousands of computers on these sites that say they are "safe users".Also they are paying millions of dollars to Anti Virus companies to let these viruses "slip through the cracks" on your computer so these viruses will not be found. These viruses are DANGEROUS!!!!!!!!!!! Your information can be tracked and then these record companies,software companies,and so on will get you in the long run
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ocean2026 (profile), 25 Jul 2010 @ 3:23pm

Corberlaw- Are you the dumbest attorney ?
First the way to find out who the legal team is to check the pleadings.

Second it is totally against the code of ethics to speak to the company about representation when you know they have representation.

The average person may not know this but if you are licensed then you should know that.

Three if you really wanted to help you'd find someone sued by the industry and do their case.

What is your state and bar number? You seem to be a fraud.

Mine is Texas - #07043340 Steve Fischer
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Anonymous Coward, 27 Oct 2010 @ 5:16am

Re:
limewire has been up and running since 2001
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Cris, 29 Oct 2010 @ 5:23pm

Stupid.
I just think all this fight over file sharing is ridiculous. All these peole already have plenty of money and they are just being greedy trying to blame others for only having millions instead of billions. Before there were CD's and the internet people still found ways to get music for free. It was so easy to just to stick a cassette tape in and press Record when something came on the radio you liked. They are fighting losing battle. People will always find ways around their rules.
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jhflkdshjkg, 9 Nov 2010 @ 2:39pm

So is limewire working again?
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Anonymous Coward, 16 Nov 2010 @ 12:22pm

Re:
TRUE, I DONT EVEN LIKE LIMEWIRE, IT SUCKS.
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frnk, 5 Dec 2010 @ 7:50am

If it is a beast go after it
To kill the Beast you must not just take it's head off it must go to hell in total, and then to follow it to hell and kill it again.Then to get the ones that brought the beast to life, that is their fate that is their story.
It is a shame these companies may take the money from those that deserve it by begining the end of the Beast. There are more Beasts to slay.
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Frostwire, 5 Dec 2010 @ 10:50am

Frostwire works just fine
Its easy to use and the more people who know about it - the more content it will share.

Any others besides frostwire that are as good?
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pimpin, 30 Jun 2011 @ 2:41pm

Re: Frostwire works just fine
i'm pretty sure LIMEWIRE still works just fine, it's p2p after all. They can't "Kill" it. That being said, frostwire, bearshare, mp3rocket, etc all work as well, as much as they all suck haha! join a private tracker
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radicalz, 19 Nov 2011 @ 8:33pm

i think its illegal to make anyone pay for a song. someone buys the song to begin with. whats the diffrence of burning someone a cd and sharing it. its free its in the air. its not like stealing a car or sneaking in to see a movie at the theatre. but itunes shsould be permantley shut down. plus itunes doesnt have every song in the world. or every tv catch phrase or commericals etc. if u ask me the music industry is robbing people. sure u can sale a cd but sale 1 track for a dollar. their greedy. if u download a few then u go out and buy the album sometimes. but seriously charging people to download music should be against the law. im a drummer. i love music. who cares as long as their listening to the music. that all that matters. for any band to be greedy and say well u give me 4 quarters ill let you have the song. is just criminal. if u want to charge ppl to download ur music. then ppl shouldnt be listening to a band that doesnt care abouts its fans. as long as their listening to the music they surport you. so sit on it crooked itunes and law men. hasta la vista baby
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