Everyone’s favorite file-sharing platform, LimeWire, is relaunching this May as an NFT music marketplace. The rights to the shuttered software were bought by Australian tech entrepreneur brothers Paul and Julian Zehetmayr, who are reviving the brand to now offer music-related NFTs such as exclusive songs, merchandise, artwork, and experiences.
The platform will support purchases through U.S. dollars and popular cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum and will launch its own token later in 2022.
Previously On...: At its peak in the 2000s, LimeWire was heavily used to illegally download music for free, having around 50 million users a month, with BitTorrent and Napster among its rivals. The company was sued for music piracy by the Recording Industry Association of America and was shut down in 2010 by a federal court on the grounds of copyright infringement. Then-CEO Mark Gorton settled out of court with major record companies for $105 million. Now, a decade later, the company is reborn with no affiliation to LimeWire’s original team.
