In response to the reopening of an investigation into inadvertent file sharing with peer-to-peer software, an executive for Lime Wire told Congress in a letter on Friday that the new version of the program is "the most secure file-sharing software available." ~ http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10232079-93.html
The fact that Lime Wire would even put the words "secure" and "Lime Wire" in the same document is quite troubling. P2P file sharing applications are inherently insecure because they are peer to peer! Although companies can put significant effort into ensuring the security of the application the fundamental problem is that when users are exchanging files, sharing and downloading, they expose themselves to risk.
I am not going to blame Lime Wire for the problems occurring, most people using P2P File Sharing applications do not take the proper security measures on their computer. We had some idiots installing it on government contractor computers and they have security clearances so I can't imagine what the average Joe is doing. Legally does Lime Wire have the obligation to make its application completely safe? I would argue that they do not as it is implied by using a P2P service you are agreeing to take on some degree of risk and should exercise proper protection measures such as running the application in a SandBox. I was unable to find any substantial law suits where Lime Wire was sued because of damage to someones computer through their application. I guess their Terms of Service agreement is quite well written ;).
It will be interesting to see how the government responds of if any sanctions are placed on the company. I hope they didn't upset too many people otherwise they will be the next Napster. To be truthful, the government should have better things to do then worry about holding hearings on P2P technology. We should be holding hearings on the legality of sharing music in the first place not on whether the applications people use to share it are safe.
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