LimeWire to Block Copyrighted Work

An anonymous reader writes "Slyck is reporting that LimeWire is working on new code that will block non-licensed material. The new code checks to see if shared material is licensed, if it is not, the LimeWire client will politely inform the user, 'LimeWire can't determine if one or more files have been published under a suitable license. These files will not be shared.'" From the article: "Approximately 3 to 5 days ago, LimeWire developers began working on two new branches, cc_reverify_interval-branch and cc-publish-branch. The code in the first branch works to verify that every file shared has a license. If this is not the case, the file will not be shared. The second branch is for publishing one's own work without a license. According to the release notes, individuals can attach a Collective Commons license if the work is either their own or have permission to distribute the work ... According to a LimeWire beta tester who informed Slyck of this news, this feature is already complete. Developers are simply waiting for the signal to integrate these branches with the main branch, providing Mark Gorton, CEO of LimeWire, decides to go through with this."

In other news...

[Stormwatch]

...Limewire use will plummet.

Message

[freaktheclown]

the LimeWire client will politely inform the user, 'LimeWire can't determine if one or more files have been published under a suitable license. These files will not be shared.'"

As opposed to the RIAA's original suggestion: "ALERT! ALERT! You are engaging in CRIMINAL ACTIVITY! Stop now or we'll sue you for everything you've got!"

Re:keyword: unlicensed

[LiquidCoooled]

The powerpoint presentation was a little murky at this point, the slide in question had the following:

1) Read unknown filename and attributes

2) ????

3) Display error message

4) Profit

They are leaving it to the developers who spent 3 hours handwaving and making grand gestures whilst all the time crossing their toes and hoping they didn't get either fired or berated by the OSS community peers.

Ob. Family Guy

[schleyfox]

FBI: Do you have permission from the National Football League and the American Broadcasting Company to record this viewing of Monday Night Football? Peter: Ummm. I only have permission from ABC.

Soon to appear in Limewire:

[Spy der Mann]

the Courage - Sincere Mistake
BetaVille - Giant in Tokyo
Deleture - Like to dislike you
False Medicine - Special J
The Cops - Every inhale you take
... and so on...

Filenames may vary.

Re:In other news...

[Rolo Tomasi]

Well, some shady figure in a remote alley whispered into my ear one night that a program called eMule [emule-project.net] might be a good alternative for the bad people who are drawn to these vile activities.

What exactly is the problem?

[mattgreen]

Assuming this does what it advertises, I don't see how this poses a problem. Everyone knows that P2P is mostly used for swapping music by independent artists, as well as large, legal files such as Linux distributions. It isn't a problem to tag these files appropriately.

This is the principle of CYA

[stwrtpj]

Nobody panic. This is CYA, pure and simple. If the RIAA comes knocking at their door, the project can claim that they dutifully changed the code to reject sharing of unlicensed works.

RIAA: But look, we found these modified versions that bypass it!
LimeWire: Sorry, man, that's not our code. Go yell at them, not us.

Or if you prefer a more geekoid version:

LimeWire (waves hand): This is not the code you are looking for.
RIAA: This is not the code we are looking for.
LimeWire: Our code is clean
RIAA: Their code is clean.
LimeWire: Move along
RIAA: Move along

Re:Freedom and privacy dying at every turn

[Capt'n Hector]

But the bad news is that the pendulum has a blade on its end, and is slowly but surely coming closer and closer to our collective body that is chained to the floor in a dark pit while ravenous rats tear away at our flesh. Poe had some incredible foresight, didn't he?

Re:Lime Wire Exodus

[timbo234]

Nowhere. The Limewire fork will be out faster than all use pirates can say 'arrrgh me hearties'

Re:This is the principle of CYA

[cgenman]

RIAA: You think you're some kind of Jedi? I'm a Lawyer, mind tricks don't work on me. Only money.

Re:This is the principle of CYA

[The Master Control P]

Or the John Cheesified [pointlesswasteoftime.com] version:

LimeWire (waves hand): This is not the code you are looking for.
RIAA: This is not the code we are looking for.
LimeWire: Our code is clean
RIAA: Their code is clean.
LimeWire: Strip each other naked in the town square and scream 'I'M MADONNA, I'M MADONNA!'
RIAA: Uh... We were kinda planning on doing that anyway...

Note: John Cheese & above animation are NSW; John Cheese may cause serious brain damage!

Re:In other news...

[Meagermanx]

"Let's name our spyware installer 'poison' and see how many people we can get to install it anyway."

Re:Maybe not

[Time_Ngler]

And the final -10% are often miscalculated, anyway.

Re:hmm.

[Andrewkov]

This is what the evil bit is for. All illegal files should have the evil bit turned on.