My Powerbook is a 15 " 1.25mhz model (but I lust after your macpro....)

good news to report.
After mucking about with all kind of stuff the software now works great????
I must admit I went at this with a gonzo method, so I am not sure what worked, if anything, so this will not be much help to others.

I reinstalled the software after deleteing all limewire and other p2p programs.
I mucked about airport
I created a limewire port in my firewall
installed and enabled latest java
restarted countless times (I am a child of system 6,7 and 9)
chanted and danced around the machine

I strongly suspect a provider issue, since the problem showed on both machines ( a powerbook 12" running 10.4.4) and now it is gone.

thank you for all the help this is a great resource.
Luca