LimeWire pulling peer-to-peer app

LimeWire today agreed to stop offering its peer-to-peer file sharing client after an unsuccessful attempt to fight a lawsuit win by RIAA labels from last spring. The company said the move was "not our ideal path" but said it would both remove the option to download the client and improve the filtering where it can. It didn't say how or if it could stop users from running copies they already have.

The company stressed that it wasn't shutting down its own business and that it hopes to have an unnamed legal music service running within about a month. "We look forward to embracing necessary changes and collaborating with the entire music industry in the future," a LimeWire spokesperson said.

Pulling the app won't prevent the file trading at the heart of the lawsuit, which accused LimeWire of supporting piracy by allowing illegal trading even when it knew that was the main activity through the software. It was using the app-independent Gnutella network and can't stop activity from other clients. The change could nonetheless put a temporary curb on piracy until regular users find alternatives.

By Electronista Staff