Lime Wire LLC, the New York-based parent company of LimeWire, is looking to capitalize on the success of the file-sharing program and expand the reach of the LimeWire brand.

Next up is LimeSpot, a new online social network, now in beta version. LimeSpot, like other online communities, will allow users to create a personal profile page, host blogs, write wikis and make "friends" with other LimeSpot users.

Image courtesy of LimeWire
LimeWire's users can select their settings and can share files they select.

In August 2007, LimeWire announced the creation of an online store to buy legal, DRM-free music. The only problem, it seems, is that the major music labels don't want to add their songs to the LimeWire Store catalog. LimeWire filed an anti-trust lawsuit against the major record companies accusing them of uncompetitive practices because they refused to license their material to LimeWire. Unfortunately for LimeWire, the case was thrown out by a U.S. District Court judge in December 2007 [source: Fox News].

Plans for the online store, which isn't yet operational, include buying songs directly from LimeWire search results, plus a standalone LimeWire Store Web site. LimeWire currently has licensing deals with two independent music distributors, IRIS Distribution and Nettwerk Productions.

Establishing a legal online store could be a way to stay alive if LimeWire loses its copyright infringement lawsuit with the RIAA [source: Cnet]. For now, LimeWire still appears to be concentrating on improving its p2p service and offering more features like BitTorrent support.

We hope this HowStuffWorks article helped you understand more about how LimeWire software works and the controversy around p2p file-sharing. For more information on file-sharing, Gnutella and related topics, see some of the links on the next page.