An estimated 200 million Limewire users will have to look for other avenues for free music downloads. United States District Judge Kimba Wood recently ruled that the file-sharing network and its CEO, Mark Gorton, were liable for copyright infringement of major record companies and the site has been shut down, according to a Los Angeles Times article.
Internal documents by Limewire executives stated that they knew its users were illegally downloading songs and marketed “free music” through press campaigns. While knowingly allowing illegal downloads, the company gained revenue from advertisements as well as users who purchased the ad-free version of the software, according to the L.A. Times “Technology” blog. Limewire built a filter into its software to block copyrighted songs from being downloaded. However, it was left off by default unless users decided to change it in their settings. This obvious disregard for respecting copyrighted songs has left the company to deteriorate.
With songs costing up to $1.29 each on iTunes, resulting in albums costing anywhere from $15 to $20 each, it is not surprising that websites, such as Limewire, had such a huge following. Fortunately, there are other options available for the fellow, broke music connoisseur.
As technology advances, so do our mobile devices. It is common for most students to own smart phones with applications for music websites like www.Pandora.com, which alleviates the need for an iPod overloaded with hours of music.
Although you don’t have the freedom to pin-point exactly what song or album you want to hear with Pandora, it creates radio stations based on an artist of your choice and formulates a radio station to your preferences. The keyword here is free. The program shuffles through music, allowing the listener to be introduced to a broader spectrum of music whether on your phone or computer.
After having my computer crash to the point that I’ve had a blue screen and all of my files erased at least twice with free song downloading programs such as Limewire, I have given up on illegal downloads. Another useful music website, www.Grooveshark.com provides free streaming of almost any artist and entire albums you would ever want or need. The downside of course, is you can’t download them and upload them to an MP3 player to listen to while on the go. There is also a Grooveshark application available for iPhones and Android, but the application costs money after a free trial period.
The future for Limewire looks dim.
Although the company is venturing into a subscription service, its success will probably be similar to Napster’s transition to paid subscriptions, which wasn’t too successful, according to the same L.A. Times blog. Much respect is given to artists who spend months, even years perfecting their albums to share with the world. They do deserve to reap the benefits of royalty checks, but when iTunes went from charging $.99 for all songs to having some cost $1.29 per song, it forces college students to look for inexpensive alternatives.