LIME WIRE: SQUEEZING USERS?

Interesting developments over at LimeWire, the lovely file-sharing client software: they're working on code that could stop sharing of unlicensed material:

If an individual shares an unlicensed MP3 file, the LimeWire client will display the following message and prevent its distribution:

"LimeWire can't determine if one or more files have been published under a suitable license. These files will not be shared."

What's crucial here, of course, is that it doesn't stop you downloading unlicensed material - just from uploading it. In the same way that that RIAA software we wrote about last week is designed to save you from yourseld, so is this - only in a more genuine fashion. What it effectively does is prevent you from inadvertently sharing stuff that's identifiable as being unlicensed. It spares you from being caught by the RIAA, rather than stopping you doing what you've always been doing. At the same time, Limewire are able to show to the RIAA they've been doing their best to stop people putting their product to evil uses. Quite a deft piece of work.

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