A year after it was sued by the RIAA for profiting from illegal downloading, the Peer-to-Peer downloading service Limewire has announced plans to create an online music store to sell authorized music downloads. The site will beta this fall and will at first be separate from the file-sharing software; subsequent releases will enable users to purchase music directly through the software.
Although LimeWire is known to most serious music downloaders mostly for its unreliability, lack of musical variety and hidden spyware, the company has already gained two partners in its new enterprise, IRIS Distribution and Nettwerk Productions, home to the Barenaked Ladies, Avril Lavigne, Sarah McLachlan and Paul Van Dyk, among others. In an interview with Slyck.com, a LimeWire spokesman reassures users, "Our plan with the LimeWire Store is to add to the LimeWire experience '' we're not going to take anything away." So, will I still have to pay after I download a Snoop Dogg MP3 that turns into "Gangbang-Twins-Barely18_23485.MOV"?
Dear Limewire,Thanks for the free albums back in the day. I preferred Napster to get free music, but you were a good alternative.