Legal pressures beat down file sharing services.

[news=http://img167.imageshack.us/img167/7710/riaa4wt.gif]The website for the WinMX file sharing service has been shut down.

The closing suggests that the service, which is best know for enabling copyright infringements, has crumbled under the legal pressure of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

The organisation last week sent out cease and desist letters to seven file sharing services, but didn't say which services were targeted.

The RIAA used a July ruling by the US Supreme Court that stated that makers of services that are used for copyright infringements themselves are liable for such violations.

Meanwhile press agency Reuters suggested that another file sharing network eDonkey has been forced to close its New York office that it listed on its website.

The firm however has moved out of the building last year, according to one report.

A few services closing won't stop file sharing, said Mark Mulligan, a research director with Jupiter Research wrote on the analyst firm's blog.

"File sharing will get less mainstream in the long term, but it will always be there. The challenge for the music industry is how to continue to push it to the margins and fill the void with legitimate services."

"If e-Donkey and WinMX do disappear it will be an important victory for the music industry, but it will just be one won battle in the long term war."

:source: Source: http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/21...rvices-crumble[/news]