Free Music Downloads Legally : Now An Illegal Venture
By Naiwrita Sinha, Gaea News NetworkWednesday, October 27, 2010
LOS ANGELES (Gaea Times.com) LimeWire will not be providing its free music download service to music fans anymore, as a US court decision has shut down the file sharing service after finding it guilty of copyright infringement on a massive scale. LimeWire has served as a platform for the passing of pirated music files. Founded in the year 2000 by Mark Gorton, LimeWire was one of the biggest service providers globally when it came to music, television shows and movie downloads for free. The Recording Industry Association of America, a trade group representing various music labels had filed a case against LimeWire. The association has accused LimeWire of being responsible for its members losing millions of dollars in revenue.
While the users will find another way for free music downloads legally or illegally, the future of LimeWire looks bleak. A spokesperson for the company said that though LimeWire continues to exist, it will not provide the file sharing service anymore. He reportedly said that the company’s plans for the immediate future is unclear. The company though has hopes of working with the music industry in the future after having incorporated the necessary changes. The company may have to pay a compensation for the damages to the music labels for the loss of revenue, this phase of the trial is scheduled for January.
LimeWire has not yet obtained the licenses required for starting a legal and authorized music service. It has been reported that Mark Gorton will require permission from the music labels before starting a new version of LimeWire, which will operate legally. LimeWire was extremely popular as a forum for free music downloads.
