LimeWire and founder found liable

Jake Widman
Tuesday, 18 May 2010 10:24

IT Policy - Regulation

In another significant victory for the record labels against online file sharing, a New York judge has ruled that popular peer-to-peer system LimeWire and its founder are responsible for copyright infringement.

The case against LimeWire was filed by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in August 2006.

Late last week, Judge Kimba Wood of the U.S. District Court in New York issued a summary judgment that the service was liable for copyright infringement, unfair competition, and contributing to copyright infringement by others.

The judge not only held LimeWire responsible for those offenses, she held its founder, Mark Gorton, personally responsible as well.

According to Harvard law professor Jonathan Zittrain, as reported in the New York Times, the ruling doesn't say that peer-to-peer file sharing is illegal in itself.

Rather, the judge found that Gorton and LimeWire knew their users were using the service to infringe copyrights and not only failed to act to stop them but even encouraged them.

For example, LimeWire features a content filter, but its default setting is Off -- while at the same time the company employs an active filter to prevent users from sharing files purchased through LimeWire.

For the effects of the decision, see Page 2.