Ok, so songs downloaded from Limewire don't need to be encoded in AAC format? They are fine to play as MP3s?

Yeah I read that post you linked to ...

Add folder to Library -> Select Limewire folder

Then each song that shows up in iTunes (that was in the Limewire folder) needs to be encoded or else they won't stay in your library ...

See, the trouble is in selecting each song and encoding it. Even if you get 1,000 songs off limewire and consolidate library in bulk ... you still have to delete all the duplicates ...

And it's difficult if you want to add new songs from Limewire. It gets messy

I'm just wondering if there's an automated way to do it.