In a suit that probably serves less of a purpose now than it would in the software's early 2000 heyday, RIAA has successfully sued Gnutella-based file sharing software Limewire. According to a CNet report, Lime Group, parent of LimeWire software maker Lime Wire, and founder Mark Gorton committed copyright infringement, engaged in unfair competition, and induced copyright infringement. Moreover, the suit holds Gorton personally responsible for the downloading, which sets dangerous precedent for others who may develop software that could be used illegally.

Worse for Gorton is that the suit also adds damages of $150,000 per infringing work. Given the millions of users that Limewire had at its peak, the total damages could be in the billions.