Alki David, the wealthy film producer and entrepreneur behind sites like FilmOn, announced last year in a YouTube video that he intended to sue CNET and its owner, CBS, for providing hundreds of millions of downloads of LimeWire P2P software over the last decade. Today, he made good on his threat, rounding up some rap and R&B musicians to join his case.
The plaintiffs argue that CNET had "direct participation in massive copyright infringement on peer-to-peer systems, such as LimeWire, that are used to copy and distribute songs, films and other artistic works," and that CNET's Download.com was the "main distributor" of the software. P2P software isn't illegal, though companies that use it to induce or encourage copyright infringement can be held liable. The principle, most famously articulated by the US Supreme Court in the Grokster shutdown, was extended to LimeWire last year when a federal judge shut down most of the company's activity.