Digital

Unofficial new version of LimeWire appears online

By | Published on Wednesday 10 November 2010

So, no surprises here, really.

A new version of LimeWire has surfaced on the internet that is independent of the Lime Group, which was ordered by a US court last month to stop distributing and supporting its infamous file-sharing client, and to screw with the settings of its existing technology so that the millions of people with LimeWire already installed on their PCs would find it less friendly to use. The court order followed successful if drawn out copyright infringement proceedings filed by the US record industry against the LimeWire makers.

The all new LimeWire, called LimeWire Pirate Edition, is being distributed by an anonymous group of developers who, according to TorrentFreak, have also tinkered with the software to make it better. A source told TorrentFreak: “On 26 Oct, the remaining LimeWire developers were forced to shut down the company’s servers and modify remote settings in the file-sharing client to try to harm the Gnutella network. They were then laid off. Shortly after, a horde of piratical monkeys climbed aboard the abandoned ship, mended its sails, polished its cannons, and released it free to the community”.

The source added that: “All dependencies on LimeWire LLC’s servers have been removed, all remote settings have been disabled, the Ask toolbar has been unbundled, and all features of LimeWire PRO have been activated for free. LimeWire Pirate Edition should work better than the last functioning version of LimeWire (5.5.10), and it should keep working for longer. There’s no adware or spyware: the piratical monkeys are doing this for the benefit of the community”.

So, that’s fun. I wonder if the US record industry – which seems to be preparing a multi-billion dollar damages claim that will bankrupt the Lime Group – will hold off long enough for the LimeWire owners to launch trademark infringement proceedings against the mysterious makers of the Pirate Edition.

Team Lime has already posted a cease and desist notice on its own site urging anyone distributing unofficial versions of its software to stop. Though in doing so the company does handily provide the name “LimeWire Pirate Edition” to aid the Google searches of any former LimeWire users looking for new file-sharing options.



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