Why Was LimeWire Shut Down?

by | Last updated on January 24, 2024

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A federal court in New York issued a “permanent injunction” against LimeWire late on Tuesday, ruling that the platform intentionally caused a “massive scale of infringement” by permitting the sharing of thousands of copyrighted works by its 50 million monthly users . ...

What did LimeWire do?

LimeWire was a peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing program that allowed its users to download and upload files through desktop software . The software could be downloaded and used on devices that had Windows, macOS, Solaris, and Linux installed.

Does LimeWire give viruses?

The ability to distribute such malware and viruses has also been reduced in versions of LimeWire 5.0 and greater, with the program defaulting to not share or search for executable files.

Does frostwire have malware?

Around 2019, Frostwire has been noted to install other adware and malware , such as the browser hijacker WebDiscover.

Is LimeWire dead?

LimeWire, which was once the iTunes of file-sharing software, is officially dead . Parent company the Lime Group received a permanent injunction (PDF here) this afternoon from U.S. District Judge Kimba Wood ordering it to stop distributing and supporting LimeWire, and the company complied.

Does Kazaa still exist?

Kazaa then operated as a monthly music subscription service allowing users to download unlimited songs, before finally ending the service in 2012. The Kazaa.com website is no longer accessible as of 2017, however Brilliant Digital Entertainment, Inc. continues to own the domain name .

Who bought LimeWire?

Entrepreneur Mark Gorton , creator of the LimeWire file-sharing system, agrees to pay $105 million to settle copyright case.

What is Gnutella used for?

Gnutella is a file sharing protocol that defines the way distributed nodes communicate over a peer-to-peer (P2P) network. Like Napster, Gnutella is often used to share music files and has been an object of great concern within the music publishing industry.

When was LimeWire released?

While it initially launched in 2000 , LimeWire wasn’t the overnight success (if that word can be applied here) that its predecessor Napster was.

Is LimeWire still used today?

LimeWire is a discontinued free software peer-to-peer file sharing (P2P) client for Windows, OS X, Linux and Solaris. ... As a result of the injunction, LimeWire stopped distributing the LimeWire software, and versions 5.5. 11 and newer have been disabled using a backdoor installed by the company.

Did LimeWire make money?

Gorton’s lawyers claimed in court that he made little money from LimeWire. Maybe, but records show the privately owned company generated $26 million in revenue in 2006 and sales climbed dramatically after that.

What came before LimeWire?

Let’s start where illegal downloading started for so many— Napster —and then continue on to Limewire and Kazaa. Believe it or not, Napster was actually created back in 1999, which makes it older than many music fans are today.

Who started Kazaa?

After seeing their last digital-media start-up crash and burn, Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis have come back with a new music service. The pair, who founded Skype, Kazaa, and the ill-fated video site Joost, are behind new music subscription service, Rdio, which is scheduled to debut on Thursday.

Is P2P illegal?

Sharing work or media through a peer-to-peer (P2P) network is legal if you own the copyright, thus you own the right to determine if and how that work is distributed. However, it is illegal for you to download or share copyrighted works without permission from the copyright owner . ...

Is BearShare still available?

As of June 12, 2016, BearShare is no longer available to download . The official page with a message announcing its discontinuation remained active until March 2017.

Is Napster still around 2020?

Having completed its acquisition of streaming firm Napster, MelodyVR has published some new stats about its business. Napster ended 2020 with 5.7 million “total platform users” – a metric that includes its consumer service, as well as the other streaming services powered by its B2B platform.

Charlene Dyck
Author
Charlene Dyck
Charlene is a software developer and technology expert with a degree in computer science. She has worked for major tech companies and has a keen understanding of how computers and electronics work. Sarah is also an advocate for digital privacy and security.