In June 2005, the United States Supreme Court opened file-sharing service companies to potential liability, ruling that they found them to be intentionally encouraging the theft of copyrighted works. While companies like i2Hub and WinMX have been shut down, others like Grokster, iMesh, Morpheus and Kazaa finally head to court after being sent notices to shut down, launched properly licensed versions or face lawsuits.

These cases moved into the media spotlight most recently in April 2006, when talks between StreamCast, the company behind Morpheus, and the entertainment industry broke down and could not reach a settlement.

These motions, in addition to new technology, add to the rise of legal download sites.

For more info, check out:
1) RIAA sues iMesh file-trading firm
2) Streamcast will take on RIAA and MPAA