file-sharing

RIAA, Lime Wire close to settling copyright suit

Lime Wire, the company that helped people obtain perhaps billions of songs illegally, is close to forking over a "significant" amount of money to settle a copyright suit filed against it by the Recording Industry Association of America, sources close to the discussions told CNET.

The two sides were still negotiating this morning, but a deal could be finalized as soon as today, the sources said. They didn't specify the exact settlement figure and cautioned that the talks could still break down.

Should a deal be finalized, it would put an end to a 5-year-old copyright case and close the book on Lime Wire, the company behind the peer-to-peer system of the same name that the big four record companies alleged cost them billions of dollars and thousands of employees their jobs.

After a U.S. District Judge found Lime Wire and founder Mark Gorton personally liable for copyright infringement and ordered the company to cease operations, the case then moved to assessing damages. Over the past two weeks, a jury in Manhattan was hearing evidence in the case as they determined what amount Lime Wire and Gorton would have to pay. If they found he deserved to pay the maximum under the law, Gorton could be required to pay as much as $1.4 billion.

Ethan Smith at The Wall Street Journal reported that the sides have held three settlement meetings without securing a deal. The talks began in earnest yesterday, said the sources who spoke with CNET.

Gorton was in a precarious legal position.The jury tasked with assessing damages was often reminded by Glenn Pomerantz, the RIAA's lead attorney, that Gorton had already been found liable of willful copyright infringement by U.S. District Judge Kimba Wood. … Read more

Lime Wire strikes back in court against RIAA

NEW YORK--Free music is here to stay and punishing Lime Wire founder Mark Gorton for that fact is unjust and won't change a thing, Gorton's lawyers said in court today.

A trial to determine the amount of damages Gorton must pay the top four record companies for infringing their copyrights got under way in a Manhattan federal courtroom. Gorton has a possible $1 billion judgment hanging over his head after the major music labels accused him in a 2006 copyright suit of encouraging music fans to use his company's LimeWire software to illegally swap music files.

Lime … Read more

Transmission received

Transmission is one of the very best choices for a BitTorrent client on the Mac, being both extremely lightweight (some users even manage to run the Ubuntu version on their cell phones!) and fairly feature-packed. Transmission's interface is easy to use--and easy on the eyes--and this open-source app provides a whole host of clever features and flexible settings, especially when it comes to managing your bandwidth.

Transmission lets you queue downloads, set "Speed Limits" for certain times of day, stop seeding when you've met a specified ratio, and more--all with live download stats viewable directly in … Read more

Sync up files across all your devices

Dropbox is a free and extremely easy-to-use tool for sharing files and syncing them between computers, and you can also use Dropbox to back up files and access them from other computers and devices (including from your iPad or iPhone, with dedicated apps for each of those devices).

Dropbox's interface is largely invisible, which is part of what makes this app so easy to use. When you install Dropbox on your Mac, you create a Dropbox folder. This is a local folder that lives on your Mac, but you can access the folder from other computers (Macs or PCs), … Read more

Android file syncer face-off: Dropbox vs. SugarSync

Among the growing list of services dedicated to syncing and storing your files in the cloud, there are two that consistently register as top dogs: Dropbox and SugarSync. Both offer comprehensive (and different) suites of syncing and sharing tools, both have their benefits and drawbacks, and both offer free Android apps. Let's take a look at what each of these apps offers in the way of mobile file-syncing.

When looking at a mobile application as an extension of a greater program or service, there are a few things it's important to keep in mind. First, how well does … Read more

SoundExchange relies on DMCA to shutter Webcaster

Illegal file-sharing services aren't the only ones getting kicked off the Internet for failing to compensate artists.

SWCast Network, a company that hosted a platform for Internet radio stations, was recently taken offline for violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). The company was accused by SoundExchange, a nonprofit that collects royalties on behalf of the music industry, of failing to compensate them since 2005.

Citing the requirements in the DMCA, SoundExchange requested that SWCast's bandwidth provider cut off service to the Webcaster. SWCast went dark two weeks later, on April 17. This was the first time in … Read more

Grooveshark 'surprised' by Google snub

Music-sharing service Grooveshark responded late today to having its Android app dumped from the Android Market, saying it wasn't sure why, exactly, the app had been pulled.

"We were surprised by Google's removal of the Grooveshark App from the Android Marketplace, and are still unclear as to what policies have now been violated," the company said in an e-mail to CNET.

As reported earlier today, Grooveshark, an online service that lets users upload songs and then share them with other users, saw its Android incarnation yanked by Google with little explanation. "We remove apps from … Read more

Google to testify on piracy before House subcommittee

Google's antipiracy efforts are likely to come under scrutiny during a congressional hearing scheduled for next week in Washington.

Google has accepted an invitation to appear April 6 before a U.S. House subcommittee investigating Web sites accused of distributing pirated intellectual property, sources with knowledge of the witness list told CNET.

Should Google testify as expected, it is believed that it would be one of the first occasions the search company has been questioned publicly about whether it plays any role in Internet piracy.

Trade associations representing the film, music, software, and video game industries say "rogue&… Read more

Study: LimeWire demise slows music piracy

In what will surely be music to the ears of the major record labels, research firm NPD Group says that illegal file sharing of songs via peer-to-peer services has dramatically dropped off since Lime Wire shut down.

Lime Wire, the company that operated the popular peer-to-peer network LimeWire, was forced to shut down in October after a federal court found the company liable for copyright infringement. The Recording Industry Association of America had file a copyright suit against Lime Wire and CEO Mark Gorton in 2007, claiming the company encouraged the pirating of billions of songs.

NPD said today that … Read more

Methods for copying files between Macs

If you have only one computer there may not be much need for file sharing; however, in many homes people have multiple systems and may wish to transfer files between them, either on the same network or in two different locations. There are a variety of ways to do this, but ultimately there are three basic transfer options: direct networking, Internet services, and the use of local devices.

Direct networking Direct networking uses standard sharing protocols such as AFP, SMB, or FTP on a basic TCP/IP connection to view and copy files. It can be done over Wi-Fi or … Read more