TORRENT PRE-RELEASE music site OiNK has been shut down by British and Dutch coppers after a two year investigation.
The site, which was members-only and operated a strict invite and torrent seeding policy, was a hotspot for early album leaks - that is, promotional copies would be made available sometimes months before they were available in shops.British music bodies the IFPI and the BPI must be chuffed with the closure: it’s estimated that there were 180,000 users on the site, all wanting to get their mitts on free music. Allegedly, the site was operated and maintained by a 24-year-old Middlesbrough man who was arrested today.
There’s also been a raid last week on the site’s servers, now seized, which were hosted in Amsterdam.
Jeremy Banks of the IFPI’s Internet Anti-Piracy unit wasted no time pointing out the evils of music piracy: “This was not a case of friends sharing music for pleasure,” he said.“This was a worldwide network that got hold of music they did not own the rights to and posted it online.” Possibly for friends to share with each other, for pleasure. We reckon. µ
http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2007/10/23/oink-shut-british-dutch-police