I am new to the Limewire community, Hi all... Does Limewire or any other server or source keep track of IP addresses of users and what they have downloaded? Is there a locally installed database on the users system that contains any information about downloads?

The reason I ask is I have a friend that works in local law enforcement and he told me that an acquaintance of ours is getting sued for downloading copyrighted music. He said he is being sued for $4000 and that he used Limewire to download the music. He was originally being sued for a larger amount, but his lawyer got the amount decreased. He said the lowest they would go would be $4000. How do I protect myself from being sued?

I tried searching the forum before I posted but didn't find any relevant posts. Any and all information will be appreciated!

Thanks

try peerguardian 2. it's a free ip blocker. Phoenix Labs » PeerGuardian 2

Thanks DarthPat, but that still does not answer my questions...

Dudekwl

First of all, LW does not keep track of your IP address, however where ever you go on the internet and whatever server you go on you leave your IP address behind, i.e. the server logs it.

For example, if I was to browse the Amazon.com site the Amazon server would log that I have been there, what pages I looked at and how long I spent there. Some of this information will be also kept and stored by my ISP. Amazon.com would/could go on to share this information with Amazon.co.uk or any other Amazon site throughout the world.

OK, going one step further, whenever you use LW, just like your browser, you leave your IP behind on any PC or server you download from. If you check your "Connection TAB" when using LW you will see and can note the IP addreses of the PCs downloading stuff from you.

This will be how the record companies, and their agents, will know who is downloading copyright stuff. They will then take this to your ISP, demanding the logs of your activities, and then make a legal (or semi-legal) attack on you.

Hope this answers your question.



UK Bob

PS. ISPs in Europe, by EU law, have to store all logs of their customers activities from 6 months to 2 years and I believe that the authorities in the US are trying to introduce a similar law.