"By finding Lime Wire's CEO personally liable, in addition to his company, the court has sent a clear signal to those who think they can devise and profit from a piracy scheme that will escape accountability," the Recording Industry Association of America said in a statement.

Lime Wire did not respond to a request for comment.

Lime Wire was one of the few P-to-P providers that continued to operate after the Supreme Court issued a vague ruling against Grokster, one of the largest file-sharing operations, that said P-to-P software developers may be liable for illegal use of their software. Following that ruling, other file-sharing software providers either went out of business or changed their business strategies. Some ended up settling with the record labels. Kazaa settled for US$100 million and eDonkey at least $30 million.