Is Limewire Illegal??
 

I HAVE HEARD ABOUT ACTIONS TAKEN BY THE US GOVERMENT TO MAKE MUSIC SHARING (P2P) ILLEGAL. SINCE LIMEWIRE IS A P2P, DOES THIS MAKE LIMEWIRE IN THE US ILLEGAL??

I'm not from the USA. lol :D

Seriously, if we can be, the program itself is not illegal. AFAIK What you downld & share is what's of concern. If it's copyright material then breaching copyrights! There's lots of uncopyright material if you search for it. I downld such material myself.

HOW DO YOU KNOW WHAT IS AND WHATS NOT COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL

Use your common sense.

Note: the question is not if something is copyrighted or not but rather if you have the permission to share a copyrighted file.

SO BASICALLY YOUR SAYING THAT AS LONG AS I AM NOT THE ONE SHARING THE MATERIAL, IM FINE??

No, I said use your common sense and "copyrighted" doesn't necessarily mean it is forbidden to share (up- and download) a such file.

Files released under a GPL or Creative Commons (just to name two) License are for example copyrighted but you have the permission to share them under certain terms.

The Music Industry has (to my knowledge) never given the permission to share their music (afaik they give you the permission to listen the music but the media and the data on the media is still their property).

As for music sharing -- it is fine to share your own composed music or check out music shared under CC or ask the Music Industry for permission! ;)

Well, something you shouldn't forget is that US-Laws are NOT World-Laws. We cannot give you a definitive answer and you should consult a local lawyer. The above is just a rule of thumb and applies somehow in North America and the EU. It is also a matter if you're willing to take the risk to get cought but that is your decision.

Edit: Oh, writing in upper case is considered as SHOUTING.