Digital Music News - LimeWire: "Litigation Isn't a Good Digital Business Model"

LimeWire: "Litigation Isn't a Good Digital Business Model"

Thursday, July 24, 2008
by presnikoff

Legal barbs intensified this week between labels and LimeWire, the latest in a two-year standoff. LimeWire, now a default source for grabbing gratis MP3s, remains a lone standout following a trail of shutdowns involving peers like BearShare, WinMX,
Kazaa, and Grokster.

Just recently, the RIAA moved for a quick summary judgment, reiterating a number of issues related to broad-scale copyright infringement and previous cases. That includes the mid-2005, Supreme Court decision in MGM v. Grokster, which held file-sharing sites responsible for encouraging and benefiting from infringing behavior.

But LimeWire is also lobbing volleys, including its own motion to dismiss the entire case. And on the matter of MGM v. Grokster, LimeWire is playing a strong defensive game. "There was a lot written about the opinion because it was so vague and because many in the technology arena are concerned that simply distributing a product that might infringe is enough to hold one liable," the company indicated. "This will be the first real case to test these uncharted waters."

And, on a broader level, LimeWire chief executive George Searle questioned the underlying strategy of the case. "The endless stream of lawsuits filed by the major record labels hasn't done anything to help the music consumer, nor has it put a single penny into the pockets of artists, songwriters and publishers," Searle told Digital Music News. "Litigation isn't a good digital business model."

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