This Wednesday, the United States District Court in Manhattan came down in favor of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in its case against the file-sharing service LimeWire, and founder Mark Gorton, over copyright infringement.
In a fairly unusual move, Judge Wood held Gorton personally liable. “The evidence establishes that Gorton directed and benefited from many of the activities that gave rise to LW’s liability,” she wrote [Wall Street Journal].
The decision was a long time in coming. Nine years have passed (seriously, nine years) since the federal ruling against Napster
back in 2001. Most file-sharing services gave up after the 2005 decision against Grokster, the Journal says, but LimeWire held out. So the record companies sued in 2006, and finally won. This looks like the end for LimeWire.
"It is obviously a fairly fatal decision for them," said Michael Page, the San Francisco lawyer who represented file sharing ...
