Andre Yoskowitz
12 May 2010 20:48
The once-extremely popular file sharing service LimeWire has been found liable of copyright infringement today in a 4-year-old lawsuit brought against them by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) threatening to put the final nail in the company's coffin.
U.S. District Judge Kimba M. Wood noted that users of LimeWire perform "a substantial amount of copyright infringement" and that LimeWire "has not taken meaningful steps to mitigate infringement."
The RIAA's lawsuit was seeking up to $150,000 USD per infringement, and the suit alleged that 93 percent of LimeWire's traffic was unauthorized file sharing. At its peak, LimeWire had 50 million unique users.
Adds the RIAA (via Wired): "LimeWire is one of the largest remaining commercial peer-to-peer services. Unlike other P2P services that negotiated licenses, imposed filters or otherwise chose to discontinue their illegal conduct following the Supreme Court’s decision in the Grokster case, LimeWire instead thumbed its nose at the law and creators."
The RIAA and LimeWire will meet again with Judge Kimba Wood on June 1 to see how to proceed.
Read the full decision here: RIAA v. LimeWire.