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CNET Sued For Hosting LimeWire Software

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  • admin
    Administrator
    • Nov 2001
    • 8917

    CNET Sued For Hosting LimeWire Software

    Alki David, a film producer and the founder of FilmOn, has launched a lawsuit against CNET's Download.com for hosting the music sharing software, LimeWire.

    David, along with a few other rap and R&B musicians, launched the lawsuit after David himself posted on YouTube last year, threatening to sue CNET and its owner, CBS, for allowing hundreds of millions of downloads of the P2P software, LimeWire.

    The lawsuit also contends that CNET profited from making LimeWire available. One of the plaintiffs, Mike Mozart even goes as far as saying that "The Internet Piracy Phenomenon was fueled in large part, by the distribution of the P2P software by CNET."

    Mozarts even compares the LimeWire software to a "gun", and CNET's actions as not only selling guns, but also promoting gun users to commit robbery.

    Interestingly, David's own FilmOn has been in trouble over copyright issues of its own. Major content holder, including CNET owner CBS, accused FilmOn of re-broadcasting over-the-air TV broadcasts without permission, and sued the website, with the judge issuing a temporary injunction against FilmOn.

    This suggest that perhaps David is launching the lawsuit to point out the hypocrisy in CBS suing for copyright, when they are themselves potentially profiting from promoting piracy on the Internet "and created copyright infringement damages into the trillions of dollars".

    As for LimeWire, the service itself has shut down due to legal reasons. However, like most P2P and file sharing software, the concept of the software itself and its download and even potential uses may not be illegal at all. But if people decide to use it for copyright abuse, or if the network operators encourage or at the very least do not actively prevent piracy, as was the case with LimeWire's operators, then that's where the legal scrutiny comes from.
    Last edited by admin; 5 May 2011, 12:48 PM.
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  • admin
    Administrator
    • Nov 2001
    • 8917

    #2
    CNET Piracy Lawsuit Dismissed, But CNET Not Celebrating

    The parties suing CNET has asked the judge to voluntarily dismiss the case, but before CNET celebrates, the reason for the dismissal may mean more bad news in the near future.

    Back in early May, the founder of FilmOn, Alki David, launched his own lawsuit against CNET for promoting the file sharing software, LimeWire. In what appeared at the time to be a "revenge" lawsuit, after CNET's parent company CBS had sued David and FilmOn for copyright infringement, David claims by allowing millions of people to download the LimeWire software from CNET's Download.com website, CNET, and CBS, was in turn fueling the "Internet Piracy Phenomenon".

    David and Co. withdrawal of the lawsuit seems to indicate a victory for CNET, but it may only be a temporary one, as the plaintiffs' reason for withdrawal is related to how much attention the lawsuit has gotten. Apparently, many others wanted to sign up to the lawsuit, and the lawsuit may be re-filed at a later time with more plaintiffs, and more than just the current 6 movie and music titles that the lawsuit claims CNET helped to pirate (via LimeWire).

    If the plaintiffs re-file, then it could mean a larger problem for CNET and CBS, and potentially, they could be charged with facilitating the pirated download of thousands of movie and music titles. Or this could all be just a face-saving attempt by David and Co. to withdraw on their own terms, before silently dropping the matter altogether.
    Visit Digital Digest and dvdloc8.com, My Blog

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