LimeWire Buys Fyre Festival at Auction: ‘What Could Possibly Go Wrong?’

The long-plagued Fyre Festival has been sold to LimeWire, the Austria-based exertion institution that became celebrated during the aboriginal 2000s for amerciable record sharing and euphony piracy.

LimeWire president Julian Zehetmayr tells Billboard that the institution was purchased by a caller absorption squad successful 2021 and present focuses connected integer contented sharing done decentralized infrastructure, comparing LimeWire to firms similar WeTransfer.

“What could perchance spell wrong?” reads the company’s property merchandise announcing the acquisition of the beleaguered festival, which famously promised a VIP experience with the assistance of apical influencers and alternatively near hundreds of fans temporarily trapped connected Grand Exuma land successful 2017. Billy McFarland masterminded the event, according to the FBI, convincing fans to ammunition retired thousands for luxury accommodations that turned retired to beryllium exigency tents and gourmet meals that were small much than food sandwiches.

McFarland went to situation after admitting to stealing $26 cardinal from investors for the lawsuit and has been moving to repay them since being released successful 2022 aft serving 4 years of his six-year sentence. While serving successful solitary confinement, McFarland came up with the thought for a sequel to Fyre, which helium had hoped would repair his image, and bounced astir antithetic sites successful the Bahamas and Mexico earlier landing connected Playa del Carmen near Cancun. McFarland yet hired Mexican steadfast Lost Nights to nutrient the lawsuit and staged a property league connected March 27 with section officials to item it.

However, things went southbound successful April erstwhile metropolis leaders from Playa del Carmen announced that nary permits for Fyre Festival had been issued successful the seaside town. McFarland responded by releasing images of permits that helium said proved Fyre was happening, but helium aboriginal pulled the plug on the lawsuit and refunded summons holders.

In June, McFarland announced that helium had licensed the Fyre name to edifice proprietor Heath Miller to signifier a scuba-diving-centric lawsuit successful Honduras. The pursuing month, helium announced helium was selling the marque sanction done an online auction, generating $245,000.

Earlier today, McFarland revealed that LimeWire was the winning bidder, beating retired a competing bid from originative bureau Maximum Effort, co-founded by Ryan Reynolds. LimeWire did licence the sanction to Maximum Effort for a Visa commercial, which tin beryllium seen below.

Reynolds commented successful a property release, “Congrats to LimeWire for their winning bid for Fyre Fest. I look guardant to attending their archetypal lawsuit but volition beryllium bringing my ain palette of water.”

Zehetmayr didn’t item LimeWire’s plans for Fyre but said he’s funny successful staging immoderate benignant of in-person lawsuit successful the future. McFarland volition not beryllium progressive successful Fyre going forward, Zehetmayr says.

“The extremity is to big immoderate benignant of lawsuit but not purpose excessively big,” helium said, adding, “Like LimeWire, Fyre came from an infamous and notorious past and we look guardant to the situation of turning it around.”

LimeWire was launched successful 2000 by technologist Mark Gorton arsenic a peer-to-peer record sharing work that exploded successful popularity during that decade. In 2010, a national justice issued an injunction, efficaciously shutting down astir of the service’s large capabilities pursuing a suit by Arista Records. The Recording Industry Association of America yet won a $105 cardinal judgement against LimeWire, starring the institution to halt updating its software.

“Over the coming months, LimeWire volition unveil a reimagined imaginativeness for Fyre — 1 that expands beyond the integer realm and taps into real-wo...