Limewire Settles Suit with Record Labels for $105 million
Thursday saw the end to a 5 year copyright infringement lawsuit being settled between major record labels and the popular file sharing service Limewire.
In 2006, Limewire was accused through a lawsuit filing to be a web service “devoted essentially” to piracy by allowing person to download music illegally.
After a 2005 Supreme Court ruling stating that a site much like Limewire called Grokster could be held liable for infringement, 44 year old Mark Gorton kept the Limewire service running which was founded in 2000.
What is of note is that record companies wanted to enforce the maximum penalty of $1.4 billion while also causing Gorton, a millionaire Wall Street trader, to face personal liability.
After being ordered to limit the websites services, Limewire said they would close their proverbial doors on Dec. 31.
Interestingly, Joseph Baio, a Limewire lawyer, made it very clear for persons to remember that it is not Limewire alone that has caused the music industries woes in recent years, but that the industry knew and knows it has had problems some time before Limewire was brought to birth.
Illegal CD copying, music seller bankruptcies, and other outside forces have also shifted the odds against the music industry in recent memory.
Point is, Limewire appears to be done, at least in its familiar form. Who's to say it may not turn out to be the next Napster?
Image via dragonblogger.com
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