As I sit here wearing my LimeWire Tee-shirt, I heard this news which is soon to cause a panic among fans of other P2P sites.
In a major victory for record labels and a major bummer for P2P file-sharers, the Gnutella-based download client LimeWire has been ordered to immediately stop distributing and supporting its software. U.S District Judge Kimba Wood handed down a 17-page permanent injunction today, and an announcement on the Limewire site shutters the site and the client no longer functions.
Judge Wood found earlier this year that Limewire had knowingly participated in copyright infringement “on a massive scale” after the RIAA, along with several major record labels, brought suit against the company. And while the RIAA wanted the site shut down then, Limewire was given a reprieve to build a new copyright-friendly technology.
TorrentFreak reports that it has spoken with a number of developers from P2P services, all of whom have seen a “huge boost in download numbers following Tuesday’s verdict.” No developers were willing to go on the record and give TorrentFreak the raw data – for fear, no doubt, of incurring the same wrath of the courts that LimeWire has received.
Even though the LimeWire alternatives have seen an influx of traffic over the past week, the fallout from last week’s decision – and the still-to-come decision regarding the dollar figure attached to the judgement – remains to be seen as to how it will impact file-sharing services and users.
“a major victory for record labels and a major bummer for P2P file-sharers” is a pretty good description of the LimeWire situation. But a victory for record labels doesn’t always have to be a bummer for the rest of us. Online distribution has still helped to bring down the price of music from the $16.99 CD. The proliferation of online distribution platforms is undercutting even the prices that iTunes is charging, and forcing middlemen to share more revenue with artists. Mine, FargoTube, shares 70 percent and doesn’t involve up-front charges or weeks-long waiting periods. Bands and labels can upload their music and start cashing in within a few hours — and meanwhile use FargoTube as a fan site, since it incorporates social-networking features.
The progress and innovative effort invested in P2P sharing has been an interesting debate in the past. Opponents of file sharing feel that companies should be prohibited from using this technology as it has an impact on copyright infringement. However the problem isn’t the technology it is the users. When used properly peer to peer file sharing is a valuable innovation and opportunity to share information.
this isnt wnroikg for me when i visit where the song is it takes me to this additional site where i have to search where this song is again and i cant find it
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