Given the history of litigation against P2P services, the ruling couldn’t have come as a surprise. In his first interview since the ruling, Searle speaks exclusively with Billboard about his reaction to the case and LimeWire’s ongoing efforts to work with the recording industry. District Court Judge Kimba Wood cited evidence presented by the labels that the company was aware that its users were downloading copyright-protected content and that it even used Google AdWords to reach consumers entering search terms like “replacement Napster,” “Napster MP3” and “MP3 free download.” In finding LimeWire liable for copyright infringement, U.S. But this month’s ruling has put that effort in jeopardy. Since taking the helm at LimeWire, Searle has been working to strike licensing deals with the music industry to turn one of the most popular sources of pirated music into a legitimate music service. Searle co-founded ConneXus, where he developed a service that enabled consumers to use their mobile phones to identify and purchase songs played on the radio.

Before joining LimeWire in 2007, he was CEO of Mediaguide, an airplay monitoring service jointly owned by ASCAP and marketing company ConneXus. Searle isn’t the kind of person one would expect to see leading a legally challenged P2P network.

“It kind of felt like my first birthday, the way I came into this world-getting slapped,” Searle quips. On May 12, the same day that LimeWire CEO George Searle turned 46, a federal judge found the peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing service and founder/chairman Mark Gorton liable for copyright infringement (Billboard, May 22). Despite losing in court, the peer-to-peer executive says he still wants to work with labels.

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