Limewire

[BiggeeC]

Hey everybody. Ok, I know that illegal file sharing is not supported by this website (nor by myself). I have a few questions about peer-to-peer file sharing that I never knew the answers to. Here goes:

1) How could Napster be shut down but Limewire is allowed to keep running?

2) Is it illegal to get music from Limewire from a band which supports this kind of activity? Some bands release songs and/or albums on the internet early on purpose so that a large number of people can "try out" the music before buying.

3) If the songs that are downloaded are to be used for personal use only, and not burn cd's and sell them, what's the harm in that?

Again, I'm not advocating illegal music, I'm curious. I happen to be the owner of over 600 cd's.

 

[PlaceofDis]

Hey everybody. Ok, I know that illegal file sharing is not supported by this website (nor by myself). I have a few questions about peer-to-peer file sharing that I never knew the answers to. Here goes:

1) How could Napster be shut down but Limewire is allowed to keep running?

2) Is it illegal to get music from Limewire from a band which supports this kind of activity? Some bands release songs and/or albums on the internet early on purpose so that a large number of people can "try out" the music before buying.

3) If the songs that are downloaded are to be used for personal use only, and not burn cd's and sell them, what's the harm in that?

Again, I'm not advocating illegal music, I'm curious. I happen to be the owner of over 600 cd's.

1. Limewire has had its share of problems, and i believe they are trying to shut it down.
2. P2P does have legitimate uses. such as downloading freeware apps, or songs that are freely distributed by the copyright holders. however due to the manner in which P2P has evolved, there are usually better, easier, and safer routes to get these materials.
3. it depends on copyright. if it is distributed because the copyright holder wants to, then all is okay. the problem with P2P is that people put up copyrighted materials that you would have to pay for, meaning this is not its intended distribution.

hope that helps a bit, im sure others can give better answers than mine

 

[skubish]

1. Maybe no one has sued limewire net?

2. If the song is public domain or the copyright owner allows free sharing then it is legal to download using Limewire.

3. If you illegally download songs your are stealing money from the people who made the songs (the artists, recording studio, marketing, distribution, etc.)

 

[ham_man]

Isn't Limewire just a client that taps into the Gnutella network or am I mistaken?

 

[BiggeeC]

imusicsearch.com
I find it ironic that this is one of the sponsors of this site........

 

[homerjward]

Isn't Limewire just a client that taps into the Gnutella network or am I mistaken?

yup, afaik it is. if you're on a mac, i'd try acquisition (not gonna link to it tho). great itunes integration. yeah, it's illegal if its copyrighted and such--about the personal use--the harm is because if this technology didn't exist you'd have to buy a cd to get the music, thus giving the record companies/artists the money they deserve.

although i do like this john lennon quote

Music is everybody's possession. It's only publishers who think that people own it.

i wonder if, if he was alive today, he would support music downloading? or maybe that's just the principle or w/e he was talking about. sorry for being ot.