Limewire No More

Today the popular music sharing network was ordered to shut down their file sharing network. Limewire has been fighting with the music industry for years and the music industry finally won. Now I'm sure there will be many more ITunes downloads, not like there wasn't millions before. I'm surprised that this case turned out the way it did and that Limewire was forced to shut down but then again the music industry would have more power over a relatively small software company. The Limewire website now has a notice saying that Limewire was forced to shut down because of a court order. Limewire being forced to shut down their file sharing network won't stop people from downloading free music though there is still many other file sharing networks out there. Limewire does say that this won't permanently put them out of business though and that they are working with the music industry and making the necessary changes. It will be interesting in the future if Limewire bounces back from this court order and what Limewire will be like if it comes back. 

The Internet The New Frontier

Many people describe the Internet as the new frontier because of the lack of laws that govern it and the fact that no one owns the internet. Many countries also have varying laws so someone doing something illegal in Canada or the U.S. can't be prosecuted if it isn't illegal in the country the person resides. One issue with the Internet is copyright laws. Copyright laws have recently been affecting YouTube a lot lately. TV networks often take down videos from TV shows and music labels take down videos that people have made that have copyrighted music in them. There is also lots of issues with music sharing and if it's illegal. The arguments that music sharers have is that it's not illegal to lend someone a CD so why is it illegal to get music off programs like limewire. When people share music though they aren't just renting and if you are sharing music it is likely that more than one person is downloading it. Many people are also watching and downloading pirated movies which the film industry is trying to deter by having warning messages on DVDs. The music and film industry is pressuring governments to have stricter laws and prohibit music and video sharing. France has in the past year have made more laws so ISPs can view what their customers are doing so they can detect when someone is downloading illegal content so they can be prosecuted. Many other governments are not doing this because it is not a high priority. After all the music and film industry aren't suffering. For governments to be more concerned the music and film industry will have to be in financial trouble. For as much music sharing there is ITunes is still having millions of music and video downloads every day.