The to cease its file sharing operations last October. A jury was in the process of deciding an appropriate penalty when LimeWire made its settlement offer yesterday.

The settlement was hailed at the time by RIAA Chairman and CEO Mitch Bainwol as a "reason for celebration by the entire music community."

Ray Beckerman, a New York attorney who has defended individuals against RIAA lawsuits said the record labels have reason to feel happy. "They got LimeWire shut down, and got some money," in the process, Beckerman said.

"But what would be interesting to see is how much of the $105 million that it will get from LimeWire was eaten up by legal fees," he said. "As I see it, the big four record labels have now managed to shut down the big first generation, file sharing" services, he said.

But for the past several years it seems the more dominant file sharing protocol has been BitTorrent, which the the indistry has yet to litigate, said Beckerman who chronicling the recording industry's anti-piracy campaign.