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LimeWire was a free
peer-to-peer file sharing Peer-to-peer file sharing is the distribution and sharing of digital media using peer-to-peer (P2P) networking technology. P2P file sharing allows users to access media files such as books, music, movies, and games using a P2P software program tha ...
client for
Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
,
MacOS macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and lapt ...
,
Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which ...
and
Solaris Solaris may refer to: Arts and entertainment Literature, television and film * ''Solaris'' (novel), a 1961 science fiction novel by Stanisław Lem ** ''Solaris'' (1968 film), directed by Boris Nirenburg ** ''Solaris'' (1972 film), directed by ...
. Created by
Mark Gorton Mark Howard Gorton (born November 7, 1966) is the creator of LimeWire, a peer-to-peer file sharing client for the Java Platform, and chief executive of the Lime Group. Lime Group, based in New York, owns LimeWire as well as Lime Brokerage LLC (a ...
in 2000, it was most prominently a tool used for the download and distribution of pirated materials, particularly pirated music. In 2007, LimeWire was estimated to be installed on over one-third of all computers globally. Both a zero-cost version and a purchasable "enhanced" version called LimeWire Pro were available; however, LimeWire Pro could be acquired for free through the standard LimeWire software, where users distributed it without authorization. LimeWire uses the
gnutella Gnutella is a peer-to-peer network protocol. Founded in 2000, it was the first decentralized peer-to-peer network of its kind, leading to other, later networks adopting the model. In June 2005, Gnutella's population was 1.81 million computer ...
network as well as the BitTorrent protocol. BitTorrent support is provided by
libtorrent libtorrent is an open-source implementation of the BitTorrent protocol. It is written in and has its main library interface in C++. Its most notable features are support for Mainline DHT, IPv6, HTTP seeds and μTorrent's peer exchange. libtor ...
. On October 26, 2010, U.S. federal court judge
Kimba Wood Kimba Maureen Wood (born January 21, 1944) is a Senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. Wood has presided over many high-profile cases involving such figures as "Junk Bond Kin ...
issued an injunction ordering Lime Wire LLC to prevent "the searching, downloading, uploading, file trading and/or file distribution functionality, and/or all functionality" of its software in ''
Arista Records LLC v. Lime Group LLC ''Arista Records LLC v. Lime Group LLC'', 715 F. Supp. 2d 481 (S.D.N.Y. 2010), is a United States district court case in which the Southern District of New York held that Lime Group LLC, the defendant, induced copyright infringement with its peer ...
''. A trial investigating the damages necessary to compensate the affected record labels was scheduled to begin in January 2011. As a result of the injunction, the
RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
initially suggested that LimeWire was responsible for $72 trillion in damages, before eventually settling for $105 million. Thereafter, the company stopped distributing the LimeWire software, and versions 5.5.11 and newer have been disabled using a
backdoor A back door is a door in the rear of a building. Back door may also refer to: Arts and media * Back Door (jazz trio), a British group * Porta dos Fundos (literally “Back Door” in Portuguese) Brazilian comedy YouTube channel. * Works so title ...
installed by the company. However, version 5.5.10 and all prior versions of LimeWire remain fully functional and cannot be disabled unless a user upgrades to one of the newer versions.


Features

Written in the
Java programming language Java is a high-level, class-based, object-oriented programming language that is designed to have as few implementation dependencies as possible. It is a general-purpose programming language intended to let programmers ''write once, run anywh ...
, LimeWire can run on any computer with a
Java Virtual Machine A Java virtual machine (JVM) is a virtual machine that enables a computer to run Java programs as well as programs written in other languages that are also compiled to Java bytecode. The JVM is detailed by a specification that formally describes ...
installed. Installers were provided for
Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...
's
Mac OS X macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac (computer), Mac computers. Within the market of ...
, Microsoft's Windows, and
Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which ...
. Support for
Mac OS 9 Mac OS 9 is the ninth major release of Apple Inc., Apple's classic Mac OS operating system which was succeeded by macOS, Mac OS X (renamed to OS X in 2011 and macOS in 2016) in 2001. Introduced on October 23, 1999, it was promoted by Apple as "T ...
and other previous versions was dropped with the release of LimeWire 4.0.10. From version 4.8 onwards, LimeWire works as a
UPnP Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) is a set of networking protocols that permits networked devices, such as personal computers, printers, Internet gateways, Wi-Fi access points and mobile devices to seamlessly discover each other's presence on the n ...
Internet Gateway Device The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
controller in that it can automatically set up packet-forwarding rules with UPnP-capable routers. LimeWire offers sharing of its library through the
Digital Audio Access Protocol The Digital Audio Access Protocol (DAAP) is the proprietary protocol introduced by Apple in its iTunes software to share media across a local network. DAAP addresses the same problems for Apple as the UPnP AV standards address for members of the ...
(DAAP). As such, when LimeWire is running and configured to allow it, any files shared are detectable and downloaded on the local network by DAAP-enabled devices (e.g.,
Zune Zune is a discontinued line of digital media products and services marketed by Microsoft from November 2006 until its discontinuation in June 2012. Zune consisted of a line of portable media players, digital media player software for Windows Per ...
,
iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...
). Beginning with LimeWire 4.13.9, connections can be encrypted with
Transport Layer Security Transport Layer Security (TLS) is a cryptographic protocol designed to provide communications security over a computer network. The protocol is widely used in applications such as email, instant messaging, and voice over IP, but its use in securi ...
(TLS). Following LimeWire 4.13.11, TLS became the default connection option.


Version history

Until October 2010, Lime Wire LLC, the New York City based developer of LimeWire, distributed two versions of the program: a basic
gratis Gratis may refer to: * Free, meaning without charge. See Gratis versus libre * Gratis, Ohio, a village in Preble County, US * Gratis Township, Preble County, Ohio, US See also * Free (disambiguation) {{disambiguation ...
version, and an enhanced version, LimeWire PRO, which sold for a fee of $21.95 with 6 months of updates, or around $35.00 with 1 year of updates. The company claimed the paid version provides faster downloads and 66% better search results. This is accomplished by facilitating direct connection with up to 10 hosts of an identical searched file at any one time, whereas the gratis version is limited to a maximum of 8 hosts. Being
free software Free software or libre software is computer software distributed under terms that allow users to run the software for any purpose as well as to study, change, and distribute it and any adapted versions. Free software is a matter of liberty, no ...
, LimeWire has spawned
forks In cutlery or kitchenware, a fork (from la, furca 'pitchfork') is a utensil, now usually made of metal, whose long handle terminates in a head that branches into several narrow and often slightly curved tines with which one can spear foods ei ...
, including LionShare, an experimental software development project at
Penn State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a public state-related land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvania. Founded in 1855 as the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania, Penn State became ...
, and Acquisition, a
Mac OS X macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac (computer), Mac computers. Within the market of ...
-based gnutella client with a proprietary interface. Researchers at
Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...
developed a reputation management add-in called Credence that allows users to distinguish between "genuine" and "suspect" files before downloading them. An October 12, 2005, report states that some of LimeWire's contributors have forked the project and called it
FrostWire FrostWire is a free and open-source BitTorrent client first released in September 2004, as a fork of LimeWire. It was initially very similar to LimeWire in appearance and functionality, but over time developers added more features, including sup ...
. LimeWire was the second file sharing program after Frostwire to support firewall-to-firewall file transfers, a feature introduced in version 4.2, which was released in November 2004. LimeWire also now includes BitTorrent support, but is limited to three torrent uploads and three torrent downloads, which coexist with ordinary downloads. LimeWire 5.0 added an instant messenger that uses the
XMPP Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP, originally named Jabber) is an open communication protocol designed for instant messaging (IM), presence information, and contact list maintenance. Based on XML (Extensible Markup Language), it ...
Protocol, a free software communication protocol. Users can chat and share files with individuals or a group of friends in their buddy list. From version 5.5.1, LimeWire has added a key activation, which requires the user to enter the unique key before activating the "Pro" version of the software. This has stopped people from using downloaded "Pro" versions without authorisation. However, there are still ways to bypass this security feature, which was done when creating the "Pirate Edition". For example, cracked versions of LimeWire were available on the Internet (including on LimeWire itself), and people could continue using the LimeWire Pro 5.5.1 Beta, which also includes AVG for LimeWire and is the first version to include AVG. The most recent stable version of LimeWire is 5.5.16. Versions of LimeWire prior to 5.5.10 can still connect to the Gnutella network and users of these versions are still able to download files, even though a message is displayed concerning the injunction during the startup process of the software. LimeWire versions 5.5.11 and newer feature an auto-update feature that allowed Lime Wire LLC to disable newer versions of the LimeWire software. Older versions of LimeWire prior to version 5.5.11, however, do not include the auto-update feature and are still fully functional. As a result, neither the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) nor Lime Wire LLC have the ability to disable older versions of LimeWire, unless the user chooses to upgrade to a newer version of LimeWire. On November 10, 2010, a secret group of developers called the "Secret Dev Team" sought to keep the application working by releasing the "LimeWire Pirate Edition". The software is based on LimeWire 5.6 Beta, and is aimed to allow Windows versions to still work and remove the threat of spyware or adware. The exclusive features in LimeWire PRO were also unlocked, and all security features installed by Lime Wire LLC were removed.


Forks and alternatives

A number of
forks In cutlery or kitchenware, a fork (from la, furca 'pitchfork') is a utensil, now usually made of metal, whose long handle terminates in a head that branches into several narrow and often slightly curved tines with which one can spear foods ei ...
of LimeWire have been released, many with the goal of giving users more freedom, or in objection to design decisions made by the original developers.


FrostWire

FrostWire was started in September 2004 by members of the LimeWire community, after LimeWire's distributor considered adding "blocking" code, in response to
RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
pressure and the threat of legal action, in light of the
U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
's decision in '' MGM Studios, Inc. v. Grokster, Ltd.''. When eventually activated, the code could block its users from sharing licensed files. This code was recently changed when lawsuits had been filed against LimeWire for P2P downloading. It had blocked all their users and redirected them to FrostWire. FrostWire has since completely moved to the BitTorrent protocol from
Gnutella Gnutella is a peer-to-peer network protocol. Founded in 2000, it was the first decentralized peer-to-peer network of its kind, leading to other, later networks adopting the model. In June 2005, Gnutella's population was 1.81 million computer ...
(LimeWire's file sharing network).


LimeWire Pirate Edition/WireShare

In November 2010, as a response to the legal challenges regarding LimeWire, an anonymous individual by the handle of Meta Pirate released a modified version of LimeWire Pro, which was entitled LimeWire Pirate Edition. It came without the Ask.com toolbar,
advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...
,
spyware Spyware (a portmanteau for spying software) is software with malicious behaviour that aims to gather information about a person or organization and send it to another entity in a way that harms the user—for example, by violating their privac ...
, and backdoors, as well as all dependencies on Lime Wire LLC servers. In response to allegations that a current or former member of Lime Wire LLC staff wrote and released the software, the company has stated they were "not behind these efforts. LimeWire does not authorize them. LimeWire is complying with the Court's October 26, 2010 injunction." The LimeWire team, after being accused by the RIAA of being complicit in the development of LimeWire Pirate Edition, swiftly acted to shut down the LimeWire Pirate Edition website. A court order was issued to close down the website, and, to remain anonymous, Meta Pirate, the developer of LimeWire PE, did not contest the order. Following the shutdown, the original LimeWire project was reforked into WireShare, with the intent to keep the Gnutella network alive and to maintain a good faith continuation of the original project (without adware or spyware); development of the software continues to this day.


MuWire

MuWire was released in August 2020 as a free software program resembling LimeWire. Developed by a former LimeWire developer, it uses
I2P The Invisible Internet Project (I2P) is an anonymous network layer (implemented as a mix network) that allows for censorship-resistant, peer-to-peer communication. Anonymous connections are achieved by encrypting the user's traffic (by using ...
to anonymize connections and transfers. MuWire's developer had purchased the limewire.com domain after it had been allowed to expire, and redirected traffic to MuWire's website for approximately two years, until finally selling it to an unaffiliated party.


Criticism

Prior to April 2004, the free version of LimeWire was distributed with a bundled program called LimeShop (a variant of TopMoxie), which was
spyware Spyware (a portmanteau for spying software) is software with malicious behaviour that aims to gather information about a person or organization and send it to another entity in a way that harms the user—for example, by violating their privac ...
. Among other things, LimeShop monitored online purchases in order to redirect sales commissions to Lime Wire LLC. Uninstallation of LimeWire would not remove LimeShop. With the removal of all bundled software in LimeWire 3.9.4 (released on April 20, 2004), these objections were addressed. LimeWire currently has a facility that allows its server to contact a running LimeWire client and gather various information. In LimeWire versions before 5.0, users could accidentally configure the software to allow access to any file on their computer, including documents with personal information. Recent versions of LimeWire do not allow unintentional sharing of documents or applications. In 2005, the US Federal Trade Commission issued a warning regarding the dangers of using
peer-to-peer file sharing Peer-to-peer file sharing is the distribution and sharing of digital media using peer-to-peer (P2P) networking technology. P2P file sharing allows users to access media files such as books, music, movies, and games using a P2P software program tha ...
networks, stating that using such networks can lead to identity theft and lawsuits. An
identity theft Identity theft occurs when someone uses another person's personal identifying information, like their name, identifying number, or credit card number, without their permission, to commit fraud or other crimes. The term ''identity theft'' was co ...
scheme involving LimeWire was discovered in Denver in 2006. On September 7, 2007, Gregory Thomas Kopiloff of Seattle was arrested in what the U.S. Justice Department described as its first case against someone accused of using file sharing computer programs to commit
identity theft Identity theft occurs when someone uses another person's personal identifying information, like their name, identifying number, or credit card number, without their permission, to commit fraud or other crimes. The term ''identity theft'' was co ...
. According to federal prosecutors, Kopiloff used LimeWire to search other people's computers for inadvertently shared financial information and then used it to obtain credit cards for an online shopping spree. One investigation showed that of 123 randomly selected downloaded files, 37 contained
malware Malware (a portmanteau for ''malicious software'') is any software intentionally designed to cause disruption to a computer, server, client, or computer network, leak private information, gain unauthorized access to information or systems, depri ...
– about 30%. In mid-2008, a
Macintosh The Mac (known as Macintosh until 1999) is a family of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple Inc. Macs are known for their ease of use and minimalist designs, and are popular among students, creative professionals, and ...
trojan Trojan or Trojans may refer to: * Of or from the ancient city of Troy * Trojan language, the language of the historical Trojans Arts and entertainment Music * ''Les Troyens'' ('The Trojans'), an opera by Berlioz, premiered part 1863, part 189 ...
exploiting a vulnerability involving
Apple Remote Desktop Apple Remote Desktop (ARD) is a Macintosh application produced by Apple Inc., first released on March 14, 2002, that replaced a similar product called ''Apple Network Assistant''. Aimed at computer administrators responsible for large numbers of ...
was distributed via LimeWire affecting users of
Mac OS X macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac (computer), Mac computers. Within the market of ...
Tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus '' Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on u ...
and
Leopard The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant species in the genus '' Panthera'', a member of the cat family, Felidae. It occurs in a wide range in sub-Saharan Africa, in some parts of Western and Central Asia, Southern Russia, a ...
. The ability to distribute such malware and viruses has also been reduced in versions of LimeWire 5.0 and greater, with the program defaulting to not share or search for executable files. On May 5, 2009, a P2P industry spokesman represented Lime Wire and others at a U.S. House of Representatives legislative hearing on H.R. 1319, "The Informed P2P User Act". On February 15, 2010, LimeWire reversed its previous anti-bundling stance and announced the inclusion of an Ask.com-powered browser toolbar that users had to explicitly opt-out of to prevent installation. The toolbar sends web and bittorrent searches to Ask.com, and LimeWire searches to an instance of LimeWire on the user's machine. LimeWire automatically receives a cryptographically signed file, called simpp.xml, containing an IP block list. It was the key technology behind the now defunct cyber security firm
Tiversa Tiversa is an American cybersecurity firm headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was founded by a retired chiropractor and real estate entrepreneur named Robert Boback in 2004. The company specialized in trawling the deep web, investigatin ...
which is alleged to have used information from the network to pressure prospective clients into engaging the company's services.


Injunction

According to a June 2005 report in ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', Lime Wire LLC was considering ceasing its distribution of LimeWire because the outcome of ''
MGM v. Grokster ''MGM Studios, Inc. v. Grokster, Ltd.'', 545 U.S. 913 (2005), is a United States Supreme Court decision in which the Court ruled unanimously that the defendants, peer-to-peer file sharing companies Grokster and Streamcast (maker of Morpheus), cou ...
'' "handed a tool to judges that they can declare inducement whenever they want to". On May 12, 2010, Judge
Kimba Wood Kimba Maureen Wood (born January 21, 1944) is a Senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. Wood has presided over many high-profile cases involving such figures as "Junk Bond Kin ...
of the
United States District Court for the Southern District of New York The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (in case citations, S.D.N.Y.) is a United States district court, federal trial court whose geographic jurisdiction encompasses eight counties of New York (state), New York ...
ruled in ''
Arista Records LLC v. Lime Group LLC ''Arista Records LLC v. Lime Group LLC'', 715 F. Supp. 2d 481 (S.D.N.Y. 2010), is a United States district court case in which the Southern District of New York held that Lime Group LLC, the defendant, induced copyright infringement with its peer ...
'' that LimeWire and its creator,
Mark Gorton Mark Howard Gorton (born November 7, 1966) is the creator of LimeWire, a peer-to-peer file sharing client for the Java Platform, and chief executive of the Lime Group. Lime Group, based in New York, owns LimeWire as well as Lime Brokerage LLC (a ...
, had committed copyright infringement, engaged in unfair competition, and induced others to commit copyright infringement. On October 26, 2010, LimeWire was ordered to disable the "searching, downloading, uploading, file trading and/or file distribution functionality" after losing a court battle with the
RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
over claims of copyright infringement. The RIAA also announced intentions to pursue legal action over the damages caused by the program in January to compensate the affected record labels. In retaliation, the RIAA's website was taken offline on October 29 via
denial-of-service attack In computing, a denial-of-service attack (DoS attack) is a cyber-attack in which the perpetrator seeks to make a machine or network resource unavailable to its intended users by temporarily or indefinitely disrupting services of a host connect ...
s executed by members of Operation Payback and Anonymous. In response to the ruling, a company spokesperson said that the company is not shutting down, but will use its "best efforts" to cease distributing and supporting P2P software. In early 2011, the RIAA announced their intention to sue LimeWire, pursuing a statutory damages theory that claimed up to $72 trillion in damagesa sum greater than the
GDP Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced and sold (not resold) in a specific time period by countries. Due to its complex and subjective nature this measure is ofte ...
of the entire global economy at the time. There are currently around 11,000 songs on LimeWire that have been tagged as copyright-infringed, and the RIAA estimates that each one has been downloaded thousands of times, the penalties accruing to the above sum. A trial to decide on the eventual amount of damages owed by Limewire to thirteen record labels, including
Warner Music Group Warner Music Group Corp. ( d.b.a. Warner Music Group, commonly abbreviated as WMG) is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and t ...
and
Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainment ...
, all of which are represented by the RIAA, started early in May and went on until on May 13, 2011, when Gorton agreed to pay the 13 record companies $105 million in an out-of-court settlement. Mitch Bainwol, chairman of the RIAA, referred to the "resolution of the case sanother milestone in the continuing evolution of online music to a legitimate marketplace that appropriately rewards creators."


Reuse of trademark

On March 9, 2022, brothers Paul Zehetmayr and Julian Zehetmayr announced that they would revive LimeWire as a music-based
NFT A non-fungible token (NFT) is a unique digital identifier that cannot be copied, substituted, or subdivided, that is recorded in a blockchain, and that is used to certify authenticity and ownership. The ownership of an NFT is recorded in the ...
platform. The NFT marketplace was launched in July 2022, with the first NFT collection from American record producer and rapper 7 Aurelius. The marketplace has no affiliation to LimeWire’s original team.
Mark Gorton Mark Howard Gorton (born November 7, 1966) is the creator of LimeWire, a peer-to-peer file sharing client for the Java Platform, and chief executive of the Lime Group. Lime Group, based in New York, owns LimeWire as well as Lime Brokerage LLC (a ...
has expressed displeasure with the reuse of the LimeWire name in this way.


See also

*
Comparison of file sharing applications File sharing is a method of distributing electronically stored information such as computer programs and digital media. Below is a list of file sharing applications, most of them make use of peer-to-peer file sharing technologies. This comparis ...
* Open Music Model


Similar court rulings

* AllOfMP3 *
Grooveshark Grooveshark was a web-based music streaming service owned and operated by Escape Media Group in the United States. Users could upload digital audio files, which could then be streamed and organized in playlists. The Grooveshark website had a sea ...
* Kazaa *
Mininova Mininova was a website offering BitTorrent downloads. Mininova was once one of the largest sites offering torrents of copyrighted material, but in November 2009, following legal action in the Dutch courts, the site operators deleted all torrent ...
*
Megaupload Megaupload Ltd was a Hong Kong-based online company established in 2005 that operated from 2005 to 2012 providing online services related to file storage and viewing. On 19 January 2012, the United States Department of Justice seized the do ...
*
Napster Napster was a peer-to-peer file sharing application. It originally launched on June 1, 1999, with an emphasis on digital audio file distribution. Audio songs shared on the service were typically encoded in the MP3 format. It was founded by Shawn ...


References


Sources

* *


External links


10 Alternatives to LimeWire
(2012), Zeropaid.com
LimeWire Resurrected By Secret Dev Team
(2010),
TorrentFreak __NOTOC__ TorrentFreak (TF) is a blog dedicated to reporting the latest news and trends on the BitTorrent protocol and file sharing, as well as on copyright infringement and digital rights. The website was started in November 2005 by a Dutchman ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Limewire 2000 software BitTorrent clients for Linux Classic Mac OS software Cross-platform software File sharing software for Linux Free BitTorrent clients Free file sharing software Free software programmed in Java (programming language) Gnutella clients Internet services shut down by a legal challenge Java platform software MacOS file sharing software Software that bundles malware Windows file sharing software