Here’s a turn-up for the books: Limewire is suing the biggest record companies in the US for anti-competitive behaviour, accusing them of colluding to create a monopoly of digital music. Filed in New York Monday, Limewire’s lawsuit claims that record companies have used “unfair business practices for the specific purpose of eliminating sources of decentralised peer-to-peer file sharing and acquiring a monopoly over digital distribution of commercially valuable copyrighted music and movie content.” Those practices include employing third-party firms to handle fee licensing which resulted in artificially high fees, and insisting that Limewire worked with the iMesh filtering system rather than Limewire’s own system. iMesh is controlled by the RIAA, alleges Limewire, with a former RIAA leader in an executive role.
Thirteen record companies are named in the suit including BMG, Universal and Warner, but Limewire is on the receiving end of the RIAA’s own lawsuit for copyright infringement of course. It has yet to settle.
Related: Lime Wire Launches Legal Content Portal
—Music Sharing Services To Start Lobby