The ongoing hullabaloo regarding the rising instances of copyright infringement and the illegal transfer of online video and audio media has taken a somewhat unexpected turn this week following the appearance of a new -- and legal -- online music store run by none other than P2P specialist LimeWire.
Peer-to-peer specialist LimeWire launches new online music download store. Credit: LimeWire.
However, unlike sprawling download portals such as Apple’s iTunes Store, which is crammed to the rafters with prominent commercial music acts, LimeWire’s new online store delivers access to around 500,000 tracks from up-and-coming musicians and underground outfits likely eager for the exposure.
And, what’s more all of the store’s content is available completely free of restrictive DRM (Digital Rights Management) copy protection, which will likely thrill seasoned P2P aficionados.
“Our DRM-free MP3s are compatible with all standard MP3 players [even those from another fruit company] and will be available a la carte or through low-cost prepaid plans,” beams the store’s main page intro. “Come in, we're glad you're here!”
Downloads from the store range in price from $0.30 USD to a maximum of $0.99 USD, while the service also offers a subscription-based delivery, which charges users $10 USD per month for a maximum download of 25 music tracks, while $20 USD secures 75 tracks per month.
As of now, use of the LimeWire Store download service is sadly limited to the United States.
But hey, regional locking shouldn’t be such a restrictive chore, mainly because any regular download-friendly visitors to the new music store are also likely to be general P2P users too, so maybe that purchased DRM-free content will magically appear online for shadowy sharing before too long. Not that we’re endorsing that kind of conduct of course.
LimeWire exists as a somewhat controversial New York-based peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing client running on the Java Platform that has attracted prior (scathing) attention from various leading music labels for the content passing through its software application.
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get2getherMar 23rd, 2008 - 05:04:20
Good on Limewire, its great to see them give the RIAA a slap to the face, all legal and everything. They have beat them at their own game! Hahaha.
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get2getherMar 23rd, 2008 - 05:04:20
Good on Limewire, its great to see them give the RIAA a slap to the face, all legal and everything. They have beat them at their own game! Hahaha.
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