RIAA Asks Court to Shutter LimeWire File-Sharing Service

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 7, 2010 - 6:56am.

Update: The judge provided LimeWire with two weeks to respond to the RIAA's motion for a permanent injunction shuttering the file-sharing service.

New York - The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on Friday asked a federal judge for a permanent injunction that would shut down the LimeWire file-sharing service, and a court hearing scheduled for Monday could decide the service's fate, according to published reports. A federal court last month granted summary judgment in the labels' copyright infringement lawsuit against LimeWire and its founder, Mark Groton.

"Every day that Lime Wire's conduct continues unabated guarantees harm to plaintiffs that money damages cannot and will not compensate," RIAA lawyers wrote to U.S. District Judge Kimba Wood. "The scope of the infringements that Lime Wire induced...boggles the mind."

The RIAA also fears that Gorton is shifting his assets in a bid to make it harder for the group to recover damages.

"Lime Wire has attempted to secrete assets into Mark Gorton-controlled 'family partnerships' with the intention of shielding those assets from a judgment award in this case," the group wrote, to Judge Wood.

"We are looking forward to an opportunity to address the Court for the first time in two years and show that as a matter of fact and law there is no support for this motion," a LimeWire spokesperson told CNET News.com.

LimeWire has in recent weeks been working to apply a filter that would block copyrighted works, as well as talk to labels on potential licensing deals, in a bid to continue operating the service despite the court's ruling.