Limewire has lost its case with 13 major US record labels, in a lawsuit which originally began in 2006. Lime Wire LLC, the parent name for the P2P sharing software, and its founder Mark Gorton, were judged to have infringed upon copyright and engaged in unfair competition. The ruling may just signal the end of for one of the world's most popular P2P sharing services.

US District Judge Kimba Wood produced a 59-page ruling against Limewire which included the following statement:

"The evidence demonstrates that Lime Wire optimised Limewire's features to ensure that users can download digital recordings, the majority of which are protected by copyright, and that Lime Wire assisted users in committing infringement."

Mitch Bainwol, of The Recording Industry of Association of America, praised the ruling and claimed that it could be an "important milestone" in the fight against copyright piracy.

Limewire began life in 2000 and claims to have up to 50 million monthly users. However, critics of the service have often accused it of containing web nasties like spyware and viruses and a PC Pro report in 2008 stated that 30% of 123 randomly selected downloads contained malware.

Do you, or did you use Limewire? Will you miss it if it goes under as a result of this ruling? Let us know the usual way.