Lime Wire LLC wants to encourage further research on the Gnutella network, which operates without central servers in the Napster fashion, but directly between users on the Internet. As a Result the company said it will hold a 2001 Gnutella Research Contest, open to anyone wanting to submit to Lime Wire a research paper on technical issues related to Gnutella. Lime Wire is an interface that operates on the Gnutella network, giving users access to Gnutella without forcing them to keep long lists of Internet protocol addresses, or having to input the addresses manually. Instead, addresses are scanned and connected automatically. The Gnutella network is often seen as an alternative to the legally embattled Napster, although on a less grand scale.
Research suggests downloading music and video off the Web is only likely to increase.
But, like Napster, Gnutella is not without its own legal problems, despite being nowhere near as well-organized and centrally coordinated. Analysts at the Webnoize music intelligence firm said this week that Napster alternatives like Lime Wire, Bearshare and Gnutella's native interface all have failed to scale up in order to absorb the many exiled Napster users flocking to the systems as more songs are blocked and made inaccessible to Napster users. The MPAA reportedly began contacting Internet service providers and universities with systems it believes are being used to share digital copies of movies via Gnutella.