Difference between revisions of "Limewire"

Revision as of 19:15, 4 November 2012

LimeWire

LimeWire is a peer-to-peer(P2P) program designed for the Java Platform, which uses the Gnutella network to locate and transfer files. Limewire is free software that is released under the GNU General Public license. It can run on Windows, Mac OSX, Linux, and other operating systems that work on the Java Platform. Although Limewire is technically a free software, a Pro version was released by the company Limewire LLC, and offers somewhat more functionality than the free version. On Tuesday, October 26th 2010, Limewire received court orders to shut down several of the key components of it's software including searching, downloading, uploading, file trading and distribution features. The federal injunction cited possible copyright infringement when issuing the order.

How It Works

Overview

Limewire runs on the Gnutella peer to peer file sharing technology. The main characteristic of a P2p network is that no central server exists. More specifically, every node that is connected to the network acts as it's own individual server. In general, every node would play and equal part in the network as a whole. Limewire, and Gnutella, utilze what is called a two tiered file transfer system. This means that stronger nodes assume the role of the "ultra peers", which are nodes that have either been connected to the network long enough, or have enough bandwidth to support many searches and clients at the same time. The "ultra peers" are used mainly for caching results, executing searches and serving as connection points for leaf nodes, which are the nodes that compose the second tier of the file transfer system. Leaf nodes are weaker and have not been connected as long to the network, and may not have the necessary bandwidth to support many clients or searches.

Downloading Model

By default, LimeWire is configured to share files. The user can choose to share either whole directories, or just individual files. In some of the older versions of the software, LimeWire was automatically set to download files directly to the directory users\documents and setting\shared, which is a directory that comes on every machine. In LimeWire 4.16, the software began to separate the download directory, and the share directory. Now, instead of downloading directly to users\documents and settings\shared, LimeWire creates its own directory My Documents\Limewire\Saved, and then automatically shares that directory with the rest of the P2P network.

Sharing

Although LimeWire by default is configured to allow for sharing, it is possible for users to change their own personal configuration of LimeWire to not support sharing over the P2P network. Under the preferences menu, Users can specify where downloads are saved, and whether or not they are saved into a shared directory. The User also has the option to choose whether or not to save audio, video, and image files to separate directories. By default, the user's LimeWire client is set up to have upload connections available to share. The user also has the option to turn off these upload connections as well as turning off sharing.

Problems with Limewire

Legal Issues

On October 26th 2010, Lime Group, the company who owns the LimeWire software was court-ordered to disable several key parts of their product due to copyright infringements. After a lengthy court battle lasting over four years with the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the Lime Group was found guilty of copyright infringement. The federal injunction was issued by the U.S. District Court in New York. The injunction forces LimeWire to disable all pieces of the software related to searching downloading, uploading file trading and distribution features. Despite the devastating court injunction, Lime Group reiterated the fact that LimeWire digital music store will still be available to the public. Lime Group spokeswoman Tiffany Guarnaccia claimed "We are out of the file sharing business, but you can make it known that other aspects of our business remain ongoing,"

Malware Distribution

Limewire's network, like most illegal downloading services, had to battle malware masquerading as legitimate (if illegal) files. In 2008 Limewire was hit by a particularly large rash of virus-infected files pretending to be everything from hit songs to pornography. These files, often named things like song.mp3, were actually named song.mp3.exe, taking advantage of the default setting of most operating systems to hide file extensions and thus hiding an executable file as what looked like an MP3 file. Users who inadvertently tried to open one of these files instead would install various pieces of malware, including FBrowsingAdvisor and SurfingEnhancer. ^[1]

Future Plans

Currently, Lime Group is working on several new pieces of software which promise to follow all copyright laws. These new products will include a desktop media player, several mobile apps, and an extensive library of music in which the public can stream and download songs legally. Currently there is no release date for this new software, but is rumored to be far along in development.

Sources

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1742287608000443

1. ↑ http://arstechnica.com/security/2008/05/alluring-mp3-movies-hit-limewire-install-malware-instead