Entry updated · Sources & corrections policy
2000 - 2010
LimeWire
“Definitely not a virus.mp3.exe”
- Birth year
- 2000
- Shutdown year
- 2010
- Lifespan
- 10 years
- Peak era
- 2003-2007
- Company
- Lime Wire LLC
- Category
- File Sharing
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What Was It?
LimeWire was the messy peer-to-peer bazaar where music discovery, mislabeled files, and questionable downloads all lived together.
Searching for a file connected a person with other users' collections rather than a single centrally organized catalog. Names, availability, and download progress all became part of the experience. Getting the desired result could involve patience and uncertainty as well as discovery.
LimeWire's original file-sharing client belongs to that desktop routine. The recognizable name and icon are reminders of a time when finding music or another file online often meant running a dedicated program and leaving it to work in the background.
Things You Probably Forgot
- Mystery file names
- Slow progress bars
- Fake songs
- Shared family computers
- The thrill of finding a rare track
The Story
- 2000 Released as a Gnutella file-sharing client.
- 2005 Became one of the most recognizable P2P apps.
- 2010 A federal injunction forced LimeWire to shut down.
How It Died
Legal action over copyright infringement shut the service down.
What Replaced It?
Memories
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