RSSCourt says LimeWire has no case against record labels
By Ed Oswald | Published December 4, 2007, 10:30 AM
A District Judge said that the peer-to-peer network had failed to make a case that its business had been harmed by the record labels' actions.
All four major global record labels -- Universal Music, Warner Music, EMI, and Sony BMG -- had filed a motion to dismiss a September 2006 countersuit against them by defendant Limewire, the P2P file-sharing service. US District Court Judge Gerard Lynch of New York's Southern district granted that motion yesterday, along with several other claims made under state law, however without prejudice.
At the basis of Limewire's case is its claim that the record labels attempted to monopolize the online music distribution market. The P2P company attempted to argue that the music industry leaders were taking illegal steps to protect their business model, which it stated was based around the sale of CDs and videos. By attempting to arrest the evolution of music distribution, its case proceeded, the record labels were doing damage to their own customers.
Judge Lynch's ruling puts to an end -- at least temporarily -- LimeWire's efforts to strike back at the labels after they filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against the service in August of last year. That case is still pending.
The judge's dismissal without prejudice may allow LimeWire to pursue a case against the labels in state court.
LimeWire says that it had attempted to come to terms with the labels, however was rebuffed and told either it could implement a filtering system developed by the labels or sign an agreement with rival iMesh.
In his ruling, Lynch said he saw no anticompetitive behavior, and that LimeWire had failed to show any facts to support their claims. He also found that the P2P provider had also failed to show that the companies were practicing price-fixing, another claim.
Neither the RIAA, which represents the labels in cases like this, nor Lime Group, the parent of LimeWire, had any public comment on the decision.
If the Entertainment industry would wake up and treat the Internet as a distribution system the same as the airwaves for radio, and Cable and satellite for television are, and implement a royalty system for fees from the ISP themselves. Then bingo, they make MILLIONS if not BILLIONS! Over night.
and the cost to a user is negligible as its spread out to the millions of P2P users across the world. Download what you want where ever you want, and you have paid your royalties for that ability.Problem solved. Business model evolved.
PS: This also gets the god dam WGA back doign their GD job cause they will be able to get a few pennys per download again from teh royalties, and Also upgrades the Nielson ratings system to include ratings from the net to assure QUALITY programing for our airwaves, and not more of the garbage we have been dealing with for the past decade.
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The record companies need to wake up and smell the coffee here. The world is changing around them and they are being left out in the cold. Case in point: the new Eagles album that just got released. That record was self-produced and self-distributed by the band in an exclusive deal with Wal-Mart. Note here that no record company was involved. Why? Because record companies aren't necessary or relevent any more. All they are is a bunch of greedy leaches that try to suck the life (money) out of everything and everyone they touch. This transition is still in the very early stages now but as time goes on, thanks to direct deals like this and the internet, record companies and their army of legal attack dogs, will soon be on the scrap heap of history. It can't happen soon enough if you ask me.
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I don't see why all this commotion is going on. I mean you can still very easy get music for free.
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