LimeWire ordered to cease activities after court order

Limewire, the most widely used program to distribute content via the internet, must cease all its activities, including all search options and uploads and downloads occuring via the 'client'. Such is the verdict of the New York District Court in a lawsuit brought on by the RIAA.

According to the injunction, Limewire “intentionally encouraged infringement” by Limewire users, it is used “overwhelmingly for infringement” and it knew about the “substantial infringement being committed” by its users. That LimeWire’s marketing focuses on Napster users and it’s business model depends on mass copyright infringement, was also brought in as evidence.

Moreover, there is a considerable risk that the injunction could also affect other software designed to distribute copyright infringing content. The injunction refers to FrostWire and, MP3Rocket as well as BitTorrent clients (including uTorrent, Vuze and Transmission) as "similar software.

Despite the court order Limewire would soon be reappearing with a "non-infringing" service system, according to TorrentFreak.

Previously Dutch torrent site Mininova did a similar turnaround following a court order, with mixed results. Research showed that 99% less torrents were available and the visitors left the site en masse.

Source: TorrentFreak