Limewire sued for more money than Exist

[John McHenry]

It's no secret that LimeWire was once a hotbed of peer-to-peer music piracy, but the RIAA has now attempted to sue it for $72 trillion - more money than exists in the world today.

LimeWire was shut down in October 2010, but litigation continues from music bodies around the world, including Merlin which represents independent labels.

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The RIAA told a court that it identified over 11,000 American songs that were being illegally shared, and that it should be compensated for every individual download of the tracks.

However, its claim for $72 trillion is 20 percent higher than the combined wealth of the entire world, which is $60 trillion according to the NME.

Don't run to your bank yet. The judge in the case dismissed the figure, and said the music industry is only entitled to sue LimeWire per song, rather than for every individual download.

This could still be substantial sum of money. At the proposed figure of $150,000 per song, LimeWire could be forced to pay a $1.65 billion fine.

Since the peak of peer-to-peer piracy, new streaming services including Spotify have stepped forward to offer a legal and convenient way to access music online. However, new services such as Tomahawk could usher a new era of "smart piracy" which can access music from Spotify, YouTube and other streaming services for free within one app.

Have you moved on from music piracy? Do you still buy CDs, or have you moved on to Spotify or Tomahawk? Let us know in the comments.

Well that's one way to deter piracy if companys are too afraid to have peer to peer programs but I would imagine limewires defense would be something along the lines of. We couldn't control what they were sharing we intended it to be used for word documents and such.

 

[Kiffy Lube]

For one, I'm glad Limewire is gone so I don't care about this. Much better ways to steal music now. Of course being a musician myself it's not stealing.

 

[Ryan]

That is just absolutely ridiculous. Limewire can't even afford $1.65 billion. They'll just declare bankruptcy.

 

[John McHenry]

For one, I'm glad Limewire is gone so I don't care about this. Much better ways to steal music now. Of course being a musician myself it's not stealing.

I work at a radio station, stations pay for music. So I always justify it as research or it's already being paid for by where I work.

 

[Rated R Superstar]

I have only used Limewire like once or twice. I'm fiiine. Right? RIGHT?!

 

[John McHenry]

They aren't going after users

 

[Slim]

some songs are worth that much cause they are that good but to make a blanket amount for every song being 150,000 is insane. Not only that but to sue for that amount initially is just stupid. Limewire at its peak was freakin awesome but I abandoned that sinking ship at least 2 years before it got shut down. The one i use now is good. Although I mainly use it to download UFC PPVs. I'll get the occasional song here and there if one comes to mind to look up.

but yeah... they trippin hard.