LimeWire has eventually ended its 5 year long battle with music industry. The P2P sharing company has agreed to pay $105 million
to RIAA in damages. The company has entered into settlement with 13 record companies including four major music companies, which have held LimeWire responsible for $1 billion in lost sales. Amidst the accusations, the service was closed down in October last year.
Mark Gorton, the brain behind LimeWire said that he is "pleased that this case has concluded”. Whereas RIAA chief executive officer and chairman Mitch Bainwol also said, "We are pleased to have reached a large monetary settlement." Mark Gorton had founded LimeWire back in 2000 and was probably the last one standing after the closure of other peer to peer networks such as Kaaza and eDonkey.
However, LimeWire still got it a little cheaper than Kaaza which had to pay $115 million in settlement in 2006. Another p2p network Grokster had to pay $50 million in 2005. The music industry also expressed its 'frustration' that Grokster ruling in 2005 did not bring the desired results and could not persuade other such networks to convert to a "legal service". Well, it is too late now.
Recording Industry Association of America is certainly petting its own back over this victory. The association has claimed that music sales in the US are constantly tumbling down. In 1999, the industry saw a turnover of $14.5 billion which dwindled down to $7.7 billion in 2009. Hopefully, with the demise of filesharing networks, the industry may experience a surge again.
One thought on “LimeWire to Settle with RIAA: Will Pay $105 million”
Youre so right. I’m there with you. Your blog is undoubtedly worth a read if anyone comes across it. Im lucky I did because now I’ve acquired a whole new view of this. I didnt realise that this issue was so important and so universal. You surely put it in perspective for me.