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'What could go wrong': Internet gets nostalgic as pioneering piracy site LimeWire resurfaces as NFT marketplace

LimeWire was shut down in 2010 following a legal battle with the Record Industry Association of America over copyright infringement charges

LimeWire left the internet in splits after the former peer-to-peer file-sharing service -- notorious for illegal downloads and wrecking host PCs -- revamped itself to sell NFTs.

LimeWire was shut down in 2010 following a legal battle with the Record Industry Association of America over copyright infringement charges. However, it has now returned in a different form altogether -- an NFT marketplace for art and entertainment. A new brand campaign is now introducing its comeback with a nostalgic ad that offers a throwback to the early 2000s when it gained notoriety.

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The ad shows a boy and girl rushing home from school to download a song from LimeWire -- namely Soulja Boy’s 2007 track “Crank That" -- before dancing to the number in a bedroom. About 15 years later, the grown-up pair retains their enthusiasm for music. They rediscover LimeWire as adults and end up dancing to the same track they loved when they were little. “LimeWire is back,” the spot announces.

“Our ad is both a love letter to the 2000s and a celebration of the new LimeWire,” the company’s global creative director Florestan Rösemann said in a statement. “Just like the characters in the commercial, many of us were teenagers when LimeWire first was around and are now grown-ups to see the relaunch of the brand.”

However, netizens couldn't help but poke fun at the irony of a former piracy website selling NFTs.

"Guess which turn of the century go-to file-sharing platform has resurrected itself? That's right, Limewire. The firm that used to exist to allow sharing of illegally uploaded MP3s is now rebranding itself as an NFT marketplace. What could go wrong?" one Twitter user wrote.

"Hard to find something funnier than famously unreliable piracy service Limewire becoming a marketplace for a scam," another added.

"Thank god Limewire is coming back. I'm f***ing sick of how well the computers in my life work," someone else quipped.

"LimeWire literally murdered my computer back in the day. I want no parts of this lol," a comment read.

"LimeWire is back but it’s for NFTs. RadioShack is back but it’s bitcoin or something. Santa is real but he’s dumping crude oil into Lake Michigan," another offered

LimeWire, founded in 2000 by former Wall Street trader Mark Gorton, is now owned by brothers Paul and Julian Zehetmayr. The brand's new identity as a digital collectibles marketplace hopes to make NFTs more accessible and mainstream by offering users to purchase tokens with credit cards instead of cryptocurrency. “We want to bring the NFT world to the mainstream and to people who aren’t into that right now,” LimeWire's chief communications officer Ivis Buric said in a statement, adding, “NFTs aren’t just another buzzword—they can bring benefit to people’s lives.”

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With its new model, LimeWire hopes to offer an additional revenue stream for artists and creators. The company announced a partnership with Universal Music Group in May to enable artists to sell different types of NFT projects and digital content from original songs to visual artwork, backstage clips, and other experiences that are exclusive to LimeWire. Some artists who have already signed on to release NFTs through LimeWire are Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker and musicians Nicky Jam, Brandy, and Dillon Francis, AdWeek reported.