How legal is Limewire

[Sepra]

I'm an mp3 noob and my son just got an mp3 player for his b-day and someone suggested Limewire for music. You can download for free, but is it a legal website? I know lots use it.......

[FUS1ON]

The software itself is not illegal, sharing of 'certain files' is not illegal, but if you get something for free that normally you would have to pay for in a store like music well then yes that is illegal.

Their disclaimer:

LimeWire is legal software, but it is illegal for you to use LimeWire to share copyrighted files without permission. Purchasing LimeWire PRO does not constitute a license for obtaining or distributing unauthorized files. When you download LimeWire software from www.limewire.com, you agree to refrain from using LimeWire for the purpose of copyright infringement.

http://www.limewire.com/about/copyright.php

This is one of those touchy subjects, I will be watching this thread.

1. No warez. This includes the linking to sites or locations which offer illegal downloads of games or other applications. This also includes discussions regarding warez, ROMS, their use, and ways to retrieve and distribute them.

[He Is Legend]

like anyone uses limewire legally

[The Priest]

Make sure your anti virus is on because there are some risks on that site

[Goober]

Good subject Sepra

My daughter was going to install limewire on her comp (which is on the home network) and I nixed the idea. One reason was the chance of a virus invading my comps and the other was the probability of her downloading copyrighted material.


so all in all pretty much anything p2p is illegal ;)

So, is that the general consensus of everyone? The use of Limewire and other P2P software will get the RIAA breathing down your neck?

[Nitro]

The RIAA tries to be the big bully in the school playground but nobody seems to pay him attention.

[Goober]

The RIAA tries to be the big bull in the school playground but nobody seems to pay him attention.


This woman is paying attention
http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9792759-7.html

[He Is Legend]

shes just dumb for sharing her downloaded files

[Asian Invasian]

I was wondering the same...
Its legal to DL from limewire
but illegal to upload from limewire is that right?

[Sepra]

I mean if such a popular site was illegal, wouldn't it have gotten nuked long ago? But then again, the legality of it doesn't make sense.

[BobtheCkroach]

I was wondering the same...
Its legal to DL from limewire
but illegal to upload from limewire is that right?

No, both are illegal, but in the same sense that a drug dealer is more the priority of the law than a drug user, such is the same with uploading and downloading.

They're not care so much if you're downloading here and there, or even more frequently, for the most part. You're a 1-1 "crime", if you will. Each file you download is 1 offense and that's it.

But this lady shared everything she downloaded - over 1700 files IIRC. So when she downloads, and 100s of people download from her, she's commiting a "many-1" crime, which the law considers much more important, as she's not only doing it, but helping 100s of others do it as well.

[BobtheCkroach]

I mean if such a popular site was illegal, wouldn't it have gotten nuked long ago? But then again, the legality of it doesn't make sense.

Because the application isn't inherently illegal, it's what the people are doing with it that is.

If a site is hosting and allowing download of free MP3s, they get busted and the site gets shut down, b/c 1 sole entity, the owner of the site, is allowing that.

With P2P, though, there is no central site. You're downloading straight from another user's computer.

The application hasn't been shut down for a couple reasons...first, you can't shut down the application for what people do with it anymore than you can shut down Ford b/c someone commited vehicular homocide w/ one....

Second, I believe limewire is based in England, not the US, so we don't really have control over them.

[BobtheCkroach]

As far as downloading legal music, you have a few options. You can continue to purchase him physical CDs, and he can simply rip those to MP3 using something like ITunes or Media Player or various other tools.

If he's into more Indie music, he could take a look at emusic.com

They sell DRM-free music, but it's all legal, as the record labels they carry agreed to sell it DRM Free. You won't see nearly everyone on their, but it's DRM Free. YOu can also check out Itunes, and look for "Itunes Plus" music, as that's DRM free. It's more expensive to buy per-song than then DRM version (1.29 instead of .99) but if you buy the whole CD, it's the same price as the DRM version.

It's possible that his player does "Plays for sure" DRM, in which case you could search for a good Plays For Sure website.

If you don't mind us asking, what player does he have?

[Asian Invasian]

Whoa, thanks for clearing that up bob. :)

[Sepra]

Ok, I understand it now. Thx guys for all the explainations. :thumbs:

This is his MP3 player. (It's just a cheapy) http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2678437 He got a toys r us gift card and now that he's '10' he decided he doesnt want toys anymore so he got that. :D

[Perfect aim]

Ok, I understand it now. Thx guys for all the explainations. :thumbs:

This is his MP3 player. (It's just a cheapy) http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2678437 He got a toys r us gift card and now that he's '10' he decided he doesnt want toys anymore so he got that. :D

nice hope he has fun with it :)

Also im not going to say i didn't use p2p, because well...i did :(. I stopped using them awhile ago when my old computer got raped with viruses.Now after my parents spend 1300 bucks on my new computer i didn't want to take a chance.... Also some of friends at school told me many people were getting nailed with fines about downloading copyrighted materials so i stopped. Now i just either buy my sogns or listen to them online on websites like aol, smashhits ect.

[Nitro]

nice hope he has fun with it :)

Also im not going to say i didn't use p2p, because well...i did :(. I stopped using them awhile ago when my old computer got raped with viruses.Now after my parents spend 1300 bucks on my new computer i didn't want to take a chance.... Also some of friends at school told me many people were getting nailed with fines about downloading copyrighted materials so i stopped. Now i just either buy my sogns or listen to them online on websites like aol, smashhits ect.

use this: http://shoutcast.com/
then dl streamripper plugin
voila..legal AND affordable!

[Bingo]

I'm a little late to the party, but here are my thoughts/opinions/suggestions:

ANY P2P file sharing program is not, in and of itself, illegal, as has already been said. This even goes back to Napster. It's like the super hopped up car that Hulk Hogans kid was sligning around here by me. The car isn't itself illegal. However, everyone knows that the real purpose of the car is to break the law, IE - speeding. And it's just that action that makes it illegal. That's also why those programs become such a target. The software such as Limewire, Bearshare, Kazaa and others don't actually host or share the material, they simply act as traffic directors and a go-between. It takes what you share and lets people know about it, and directs you on where to go to find what you are looking for.

I'll also say that most of them are really bogged down now with either spyware, adware and virusii - often written into them. Further, a LOT of the items traded on them are even more heavily laden with that crap. A common tactic amongst a lot of the users is to take something stupid, like a sample of them saying 'You suck Ha Ha!' and rename it into a song everyone is wanting and increase the file size until it's right around the actual song and then share it. The software can't tell that it's not actually the real song. Worse though are the ones who specifically send out virusus and trojans. Same deal - they will rename a virus to a popular file or hide it in a picture. Name the file something like photshop.exe or the pic to something like naked_blonde.jpeg and off it goes. Make sure it's the right size and some people will grab it. And some people will grab it and never open it, but still share it. Now you have lots and lots of copies all being shared.

It's why I stick to legal sites. I've no problem paying 99 cents for a song I want. It was the whole buying 5 songs I didn't want to get the 2 I did thing that always pissed me off about CDs.

I use musicmatch, just because they have a fairly deep library and it's easy enough to use. Download the tunes and then burn them to a CD using Nero. From there I can do anything I want with them.

I've also turned to torrents for a lot of my music. I trade in the legal live recordings, still generally known as bootlegs. Sticking to the tightly run sites, I've never come across any issues with virusus or renamed files. There are a LOT of torrent sites out there dealing in illegal files and they generally have exactly the same issues that the illegal P2P sites do. Face it, the illegal stuff attracts a lot of idiots and a lot of shady people.

If you are interested in the legal live music, I would suggest thetradersden.org or dimeadozen.org. Both are very tightly monitored to avoid artists who do not want thier music traded, so they are legit and they maintain a very high level of quality. This is stuff that sounds usually as good (and in many cases better) than the released material and is totally worth looking in to. Check out my sig for a list of some of the stuff I've snagged and if you want to hear a sample, I'll work something out for you.

B

[Perfect aim]

use this: http://shoutcast.com/
then dl streamripper plugin
voila..legal AND affordable!

wowo thx nice find, ill definetly have to check it out tomorow but for now i have to work on my english report due tommorow