Time to fire up Windows XP, bleach your hair, and listen to some linkin_park_hybrid_theory_full_album.mp3, because FileWire it's back.
Something like.
Here's the deal: The LimeWire moniker is making a comeback in the world of digital media, but it won't be attached to a peer-to-peer file-sharing service, as it was in the early 2000s. name have been bought by a couple of Austrian entrepreneurs, who are attaching it to an NFT platform they plan to launch in May.
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For the uninitiated, LimeWire worked during the first decade of the millennium. Like its predecessors Napster and Kazaa, LimeWire allowed its users to download torrent files containing pirated versions of songs, albums, TV shows, and movies. A 2010 ruling in a US federal court effectively killed LimeWire, leaving the platform to linger in the overstimulated minds of millennials, or so we thought.
As you can see, LimeWire generates a special kind of nostalgia among internet users of a certain age (ie me). It harkens back to those carefree days of yore and the adolescent indiscretions that filled them. siblings Paul and Julian Zehetmayr they recognize the power of that feeling, which is why they chose to acquire the LimeWire name from its original owner. They are connecting nostalgia with a technology that, like peer-to-peer file sharing, is designed to disrupt and decentralize the cultural order.
"It's a very iconic name. Even if you look on Twitter today, there are hundreds of people who are still nostalgic about the name," he said. julian zehetmayr on an interview with Bloomberg. "Everyone connects it to music and we're initially launching a very music-focused market, so the brand was really a great fit for their heritage."
The plan here is to capitalize on the power of nostalgia, but there are some parts of the LimeWire experience that won't make the transition to the blockchain. Torrent services have always had an anti-authoritarian, rule-breaking streak, but the new LimeWire plans to work directly with artists and music industry figures. According to Julian Zehetmayr, there are ten "really big" artists who will be using LimeWire to sell songs, merch, images, and/or behind-the-scenes content as NFTs. Meanwhile, managers associated with acts like HER and the Wu-Tang Clan have been advising the company.
There is also the issue of security. When downloading files on the old LimeWire, you never knew exactly what you were going to get, but the new version includes numerous security features aimed at preventing fraud and money laundering.
This is the essence of the new LimeWire: it targets millennials who used to enjoy the old service and asks if they would like to try another music acquisition platform with a decentralized structure. Many of the features the Zehetmayrs are designing are aimed at NFT newbies and people who may be hesitant about jumping into the wacky world of Web3.
For example, LimeWire users will be able to spend US dollars on the platform, thus providing an entry point for people who do not have any cryptocurrency to their name. The company has also announced that will exist in Algorandwhich is known as the first negative carbon block chain.
"We want to remove all those barriers and make it easy for people to participate, while also providing an exciting platform for crypto natives." said Paul Zehetmayr.
Can nostalgia, flexibility, world-class partnerships and environmental awareness come together to make LimeWire a success story of the 2020s? We'll start to find out once it launches in May. If you want to be part of that moment, you can put your name on the waiting list here.
The Zehetmayrs, who are serial entrepreneurs, will fund LimeWire out of pocket to get started, and mint their own token to install a bounty program on their platform. The brothers suggested they could support their new venture with a larger funding round "later this year."
