"LimeWire, the popular cross-platform P2P client for the
Gnutella network, has been growing in popularity thanks to its
promise that it contains no adware or spyware--a fact anyone can
verify because the application's source code is open.
"The first client for the decentralized peer-to-peer Gnutella
network was released by AOL's Nullsoft division in 2001. It was
quickly withdrawn a couple of days later when AOL realized that it
could be used to facilitate piracy. That did not stop others from
reverse-engineering Nullsoft's client and releasing their own
commercial and open source versions with added features. It was not
long before a number of clients, such as LimeWire, BearShare,
Shareaza, Gnucleus, and others, were unleashed upon the
world..."