Posted on 09/26/2006 12:47:09 PM PDT by Panerai
Peer-to-peer (P-to-P) file-sharing software developer Lime Wire has countersued the biggest record companies, charging them with anti-competitive behavior.
The suit, filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, follows the closing of most of the popular file-sharing Web sites due to lawsuits initiated by record companies. It also comes on the heels of a suit filed by 13 record companies against Lime Wire, accusing the developer of music piracy and demanding damages that could amount to $476 million.
Lime Wire now charges the record companies with colluding to create a monopoly over the digital distribution of copyrighted music. The record companies “have engaged in these unfair business practices for the specific purpose of eliminating sources of decentralized peer-to-peer file sharing and acquiring a monopoly over digital distribution of commercially valuable copyrighted music and movie content,” the lawsuit reads.
The alleged unfair business practices include collusion among the record companies to price their licensing rates such that independent music sellers can’t afford to stay in business, Lime Wire said.
Lime Wire added that a since-changed policy at the record companies of requiring licensees to negotiate only with certain companies that represent a group of record labels resulted in artificially high licensing fees.
(Excerpt) Read more at macworld.com ...
The record companies have been bullying the public and companies like Lime Wire for far too long.
I use Limewire and have used iTunes sparingly (2 songs we're talking about). Who am I cheering on?
Good luck with that.
ping........
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