Founded in 2000, the people behind LimeWire now form the largest team of developers building applications for the Gnutella network. Using Java, the LimeWire application is consistent across multiple platforms. Even though file-swapping makes Hollywood a bit nervous, peer-based applications will likely play significant roles in our ever-the-more connected future. Greg Bildson, CTO/COO of LimeWire took the time to answer our questions:
1. Why start LimeWire?
Mark Gorton, founder of Lime Wire LLC believed peer to peer had the potential to make information available to Internet users in a style that the web cannot achieve. Peer to peer networks enabled users to simultaneously search multiple databases using one standard search system. Companies and individuals can publish information and content at a fraction of the cost of traditional websites. Applications exploiting peer to peer technology had already achieved substantial popularity among consumers, yet few uses besides file sharing existed for these early clients.

2. How were members of the team first introduced to computers and code?
LimeWire developers areall formally educated programmers. The LimeWire Team has a love of software development. The founding members, Chris Rohrs and Greg Bildson had an extensive background with Java and wereinterested in making a serious Java application for millions of consumers. Greg designed games inassembly language before he was out of high school. By the time that he finished his own assembler/disassembler for the 6809e chip, he just hand coded the machine code for his programs.

3. What makes Limewire unique among file-sharing applications?
Java makes LimeWire cross platform and very widely available. We are one of the few high quality Java applications. We have a large and experienced in-house development team backed up with open source developers which has allowed us to develop sophisticated capabilities.

4. What challenges does the gnutella network faces as it continues to grow and development matures? What challenges does LimeWire face?
The greatest challenge to the growth of the Gnutella network is government over regulation that could hinder the evolution of the technology. Gnutella also must combat users that spam the network and greedy clients that are abusive with network resources.

On a larger level, closed networks pose a threat to peer to peer technology in general. A network whose protocol is controlled by a single company will inevitably lead to a monopolistic situation that can prevent the natural evolution of the technology. The open protocol nature of Gnutella prevents a monopoly and allows great ideas to come from many different sources.

5. What new directions do you see p2p applications heading?
In the future we see P2P obtaining additional distributed capabilities. There will be increased privacy for the end user possibly implemented through anonymity. There will also be increases in security and the creation of a trust system. Transactions in the future may take place on peer to peer networks. The future of the technology is very open ended.

6. In an ideal world, what role would file-sharing apps play in the distribution of media?
The number of bandwidth intensive and streaming media websites that require huge server farms will inevitably increase in the future. LimeWire and other file sharing applications will play a pivotal role in the future distribution of these files. Through a file sharing network, a corporation can find a virtually zero cost distribution network for their popular content. This low cost alternative is made possible by distributing the burden of delivery equally between interested users. The media distributor will no longer need to allocate massive amounts of bandwidth and server space for each file type. File sharing technology will save content distributors the cost of distribution. As the P2P world matures, content creators will recognize and take advantage of this cost saving benefit.

As television and radio matured into nearly ubiquitous content distribution channels, P2P technology will become just as pervasive. Currently over 60 million Americans already use file sharing and this number will certainly increase. Acting synergistically with P2P technology is the rapid rise of broadband ISP as a common way to access the Internet. Consumers will be able to access old and new movies, music, shows, and books on demand through LimeWire.

Resistance from large media companies to the adoption of P2P distribution is a myopic attempt to maintain current revenue streams. To date, controlling content distribution channels such as broadcast, satellite, cable and physical medium, enabled large media companies to reap larger profits from the distribution of their content. While the media production portion of a company will save, the current distribution arm will have to reevaluate and reposition in the new market. As an added bonus, file sharing will level the playing field for independent artists and smaller content providers. The innovative content for the future might come from smaller niche firms more in tune with a specialized global audience than the large media conglomerate.

7. If not Limewire, what other project do you think the LimeTeam would develop?
There are so many opportunities in the peer to peer space that if we weren’t working on LimeWire, we would still be working in the peer to peer space on some different project.

8. What is missing in the current file-sharing world?
Participation of major content producers is missing in the file-sharing world. While there are many files already legally available through peer to peer networks, many more should take advantage of the technology. Artists should also become familiar with the Creative Commons Licensing options to grant different rights to the end user than granted under current copyright law.

9. What 2-3 gadgets could you not live without?
iPod and foosball table.

10. What websites or applications have caught your eye?
Friendster’s concept seems like a great way to link people together. A distributed web of friends would be interesting. The Waste protocol is also interesting for allowing users to interoperate easily.