LimeWire is another example of peer-to-peer file sharing that has become infamous for sharing more than just documents, music files, videos and applications. While there are free LimeWire downloads available, there is also a pay version of LimeWire which sells for about $19. The claim for the commercial LimeWire program is the fact that downloads proceeded faster than they would on the free LimeWire. Yet another factor that had many hesitate about proceeding to download free LimeWire was the program LimeShop with which the free LimeWire was bundled. This program was a spyware application in the classical sense of the word, and as such it tracked online purchases.

Furthermore, it was next to impossible to uninstall LimeShop, even when LimeWire was uninstalled. When the United States lawsuits that involved Kazaa and others were being dragged through the court, there was talk of suspending the LimeWire download so as not to get caught up in the litigation as well. Yet the accusations that pointed toward the download of LimeWire with respect to copyright infringement were finally made, and while there was talk in the industry that the LimeWire free download would suspend the free download of copyrighted materials, this has not actually happened. As a matter of fact, LimeWire free is still available to this day and copyrighted files can be shared just as they were before.

At this point in time free LimeWire Pro as well as the LimeWire free download for Mac is considered to be off limits for serious PC users since their association with malware, spyware and also worms has been sufficiently proven to users. While it is indeed still possible to access free LimeWire downloads, there are very few computer uses who will take the risk of inviting a host of other pieces of software to their computers. It is hard to tell where the company will go from here. What has become known is the fact that the technology has given rise to the development of several similar programs that have the same look and feel but that are not necessarily operating within the law but also not distributing malware. FrostWire is one such offshoot.

Obviously anyone who chooses to engage in the peer-to-peer networks understands that viruses, Trojans, and other programs are quite possibly a part of the experience. Yet when it emerges that a company prepares its software to actually contain spyware and other undesirable applications, it becomes harder to trust those within the industry.