TorrentFreak

Just as quickly as one file-sharing solution bites the dust, another steps in to take its place. In the wake of LimeWire’s demise we take a look at Groovejaar, a downloading software client which takes the only real weakness of streaming music service Grooveshark and turns it into its strength – fully downloadable high-quality MP3s in an instant.

Delivering his keynote address at this week’s annual CA Expo in Sydney, former Google CIO Douglas C Merrill added to the growing belief that punishing and demonizing file-sharers is a bad idea. Merrill, who after his Google stint joined EMI records, revealed that his profiling research at the label found that LimeWire pirates were iTunes’ biggest customers.

An organization which claims to protect the rights of Indie labels across 25 different countries is squeezing what is left of LimeWire for millions of dollars. Merlin BV, which represents more than 12,000 indie labels worldwide, is suing LimeWire and owner Mark Gorton after the company failed to pay compensation following its May 2011 out-of-court settlement with the RIAA.

In May, FilmOn founder Alki David and a group of artists sued CNET’s Download.com and parent company CBS. The copyright holders accused the CBS-owned websites of several copyright-related offenses for their role in distributing LimeWire and other P2P software. This week the artists dropped their case, threatening to replace it with an even bigger case in the near future.

After LimeWire was shut down last year FrostWire took over as the leading file-sharing application on the Gnutella network. But this didn’t last long. Today FrostWire announces that it will leave Gnutella entirely and focus on BitTorrent instead. This decision may very well signal the end of the once-mighty Gnutella network, while existing BitTorrent networks will only grow stronger.

The copyright infringement lawsuit filed by FilmOn founder Alki David against CNET’s Download.com has brought to light an interesting fact. In their complaint, plaintiffs allege that CNET profited from copyright infringement as the site was the main distributer of LimeWire. Although CNET’s liability is far from proven, it is certainly worth noting that Warner Music director Shelby Bonnie was also CNET’s CEO at the time LimeWire got sued.

With the annihilation of Grokster in the middle of the last decade and the recent destruction and humiliation of LimeWire, one might have thought that all prospective file-sharing developers would be proceeding with caution. Not so. In fact, some are painting big targets on their chests with “Sue Me!” right in the middle. Coding geniuses, it’s time to get smart.