CNET sued for distributing LimeWire

Andre Yoskowitz
5 May 2011 22:31

CNET has been sued this week for distributing 220 million copies of LimeWire over the years.
The record labels say CNET parent CBS Interactive profited from the free downloads, which accounted for 95 percent of all LimeWire downloads since 2008.

Reads the complaint:

The CBS defendants received massive amounts of revenue from P2P provders on a ‘pay per download’ basis and also from advertising revenues generated by advertisements placed on the download screen for P2P software.

The suit also claims CBS was "well aware" of LimeWire's infamy as an "infringement tool" yet continued to offer the client and "videos, articles and other media that instructed how to use P2P software to locate pirated copies of copyrighted works and remove electronic protections placed on digital music files."

LimeWire was shut down last year and had 50 million active users at its peak.