Limewire is a free program that allows users on the Internet to share music, video and other files. Limewire also allows a user to search for content on other users' computers and download those files. No centralized server or website is used to store files. Limewire directly transfers files from one user to another, hence the term "peer-to-peer" or P2P file sharing. It's more accurate to say that a file is being transferred instead of downloaded in the context of P2P applications. Limewire allows you to share or access any file type such as MP3, AVI/MPEG, JPG, etc. Because it is written in the Java programming language, it will run on Windows, Macintosh, Linux, and other operating systems.

Is Limewire legal? And what about those "transferred" files? That all depends on what you do with the software. Some artists make their music freely available on file sharing services, in order to gain exposure or because they just want to give it away for free.

Obtaining music on those terms via Limewire or a similar P2P service is perfectly legal and even encouraged. But copyright laws protect the creators of original works, such as music, movies, photos and artwork. Individuals who reproduce, distribute, or receive copies without the consent of the owners may be in violation of copyright laws. To put that in context, if you copy commercially available music or video files without paying for it, you're probably breaking the law.