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LimeWire
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The LimeWire interface shown in Windows XP. |
| Maintainer: |
Lime Wire LLC |
| Latest release: |
4.12.6 / 2006-08-17 |
| OS: |
Cross-platform |
| Use: |
File sharing |
| License: |
GPL |
| Website: |
http://www.limewire.org/
http://www.limewire.com/
|
LimeWire is a peer-to-peer file sharing client for the Gnutella network. It is free software released under the GNU General Public License. Limewire was the first file sharing program to support firewall-to-firewall file transfers, a feature introduced in version 4.2, which was released in November 2004.
Written in Java, Limewire runs on any computer with a Java Virtual Machine installed. To facilitate installation for casual users, installation packages are available for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and in the RPM format for Linux. Support for Mac OS 9 and previous versions has been dropped with LimeWire 4.0.10. The Windows version of the LimeWire installer includes a version of Sun Microsystems' Java installer which will download and install version 1.5 of the Java Runtime Environment if it detects the machine does not have a recent version of Java installed.
LimeWire uses the SHA-1 and tiger tree hash cryptographic hash functions to ensure that downloaded data is uncompromised. Although researchers have identified possible vulnerabilities in the SHA-1 algorithm, because LimeWire does not rely on SHA-1 alone, these vulnerabilities do not have many adverse implications for LimeWire's verification of downloaded files.
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Contents
- 1 Versions
- 2 Legal issues
- 3 References
- 4 External links
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Versions
Lime Wire LLC, the developer of LimeWire, distributes two versions of the program; a basic, free version, and an enhanced version (LimeWire PRO) sold for a fee of US$18.88, or available to download from LimeWire itself, which the developers claim offers faster downloads.[1] Prior to April 2004, the free version of LimeWire was distributed with a bundled program called LimeShop (a variant of TopMoxie), which was considered by computer security experts to be spyware. Among other things, LimeShop monitored online purchases in order to redirect sales commissions to Lime Wire LLC. Uninstallation of LimeWire would not remove LimeShop. With the removal of all bundled software in LimeWire 3.9.4 (released on April 20, 2004),[2] these objections were addressed.
Being open source, LimeWire has spawned several forks, including LionShare, an experimental software development project at Penn State University, and Acquisition, a popular Mac OS X–based Gnutella client with a proprietary interface. Researchers at Cornell University developed a reputation management add-in called Credence that allows users to distinguish between "genuine" and "suspect" files before downloading them. An October 12, 2005, report[3] states that some of LimeWire's open source contributors have forked the project and called it FrostWire. The FrostWire project has a beta release, which is claimed to be equivalent in power to the nonfree version of Limewire. The FrostWire developers emphasize that they will never place any sharing-related restrictions on the client. There is another version based on LimeWire called MP3Rocket.
Legal issues
According to a June 28, 2005, report in The New York Times, Lime Wire LLC may stop distributing LimeWire due to the outcome of MGM v. Grokster. On September 25, 2005, it was reported that Lime Wire LLC was working on a version of the program which will refuse to share files that lack valid license information[4]. Neither of these events occurred, and as of October 2006, it is still possible to download Limewire and share copyrighted files.
On June 21, 2006, Limewire 4.12.3 was released, including a new option to filter out material that copyright owners have denied access to. In practice, many of the so-called "legal" downloads on LimeWire have a spoofed license. That is, filesharers have marked that the file is uncopyrighted and legal to download, even if it is not.
On August 4, 2006, the RIAA sued Limewire, alleging that it was profiting from unauthorised downloads.
On August 5, 2006, the BBC reported that "Limewire" and "Lime wire" were the fifth and seventh most likely search term to return links to malware respectively.[5]
A song by parody artist "Weird Al" Yankovic called Don't Download This Song mentions Limewire in addition to other file sharing sites. The song was made available for free download as of August 21, 2006.
On September 25, 2006 Limewire countersued the RIAA for Antitrust Violations [6]
References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
LimeWire
- Felten, Edward W (2004). SHA1 Break Rumored. Freedom To Tinker Discussion Forum. Retrieved on 2005-07-08.
- Advanced Peer-Based Technology Business Models. MIT Sloan School of Management (2002).
- Silverthorne, Sean (2004). Music Downloads: Pirates- or Customers?. Harvard Business School Working Knowledge.
- ^ http://www.limewire.com/english/content/download.shtml
- ^ http://www.limewire.com/english/content/features_history.shtml
- ^ http://www.slyck.com/news.php?story=954
- ^ http://www.slyck.com/news.php?story=927
- ^ BBC News: Warning on search engine safety
- ^ http://recordingindustryvspeople.blogspot.com/2006/09/lime-wire-sues-riaa-for-antitrust.html
External links
- LimeWire Official Website
- LimeWire Official Forum
- LimeWire Official Blogs
Categories: Articles to be merged | 2000 introductions | File sharing programs | Java platform software | Windows software | Mac OS software | Mac OS X software | Linux software | Free file sharing software | File sharing networks
