343679
submission
Hatta writes:
A special message greeted some of the estimated 180,000 paid members of music file-sharing Web site OiNK.cd when they tried to access it on Tuesday: "This site has been closed as a result of a criminal investigation by IFPI [International Federation of the Phonographic Industry], BPI [British Phonographic Industry], Cleveland [U.K.] police and the Fiscal Investigation Unit of the Dutch police, into suspected illegal music distribution. A criminal investigation continues into the identities and activities of the site's users."
343607
submission
QuietR10t writes:
Scott Gilbertson from Wired raises an interesting point: "However, there is one interesting quote in the IFPI's press release. Jeremy Banks, head of the IFPI's Internet Anti-Piracy Unit, says in the press release: "OiNK was central to the illegal distribution of pre-release music online. This was not a case of friends sharing music for pleasure. This was a worldwide network that got hold of music they did not own the rights to and posted it online." (emphasis mine)
The IFPI seems to be making a distinction of scale between professional piracy groups and friends sharing files, even if, so far as I know, copyright laws in Britain (and the U.S.) make no such distinctions."
http://blog.wired.com/monkeybites/2007/10/oink-is-the-lat.html
There are also rumors of investigation into users, but with 180k users I'm not sure they would know where to start.
343559
submission
tMav writes:
Today, eager music lovers all over the world woke up to discover that the popular BitTorrent tracker OiNK has been shut down. The BBC News is reporting the raid and the site now responds only with the increasingly familiar message:
"This site has been closed as a result of a criminal investigation by IFPI, BPI, Cleveland Police and the Fiscal Investigation Unit of the Dutch Police (FIOD ECD) into suspected illegal music distribution.
A criminal investigation continues into the identities and activities of the site's users.
343457
submission
t-bone writes:
Dutch and British police have shut down OiNK and raided the home and workplace of its founder as well as the hosting center. There is an ominous warning at the OiNK.cd site now as well. More info at Reuters
343401
submission
4nick8 writes:
Oink, the world's favourite private bittorrent music community, has been raided and it's owner arrested.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/tees/7057812.stm
343373
submission
jagermeister101 writes:
Bad news for pirates. Torrent sharing network OiNK has been shutdown by British and Dutch police. A flat belonging to a 24 year old IT worker in England and servers based in Amsterdam were raided.
343317
submission
b4stard writes:
Popular bittorrent tracker OiNK, arguably the finest source for downloading music on the internets, has been raided by police, admin arrested. From the article:
Jeremy Banks, Head of the IFPI's Internet Anti-Piracy Unit, said in a reponse to the news: "OiNK was central to the illegal distribution of pre-release music online. This was not a case of friends sharing music for pleasure. This was a worldwide network that got hold of music they did not own the rights to and posted it online."
Please join me in a few minutes of prayer for the destruction of the IFPI and the BPI and for general badness befalling their executives.
343279
submission
mvictoras writes:
The biggest music private tracker shut down! Ifpi.org reports, 'British and Dutch police today shut down the world's biggest source of illegal pre-release chart albums and arrested a 24-year old man in an operation coordinated between Middlesbrough and Amsterdam.
The raids, which were coordinated by Interpol, follow a two-year investigation by the international and UK music industry bodies IFPI and BPI into the members-only online pirate pre-release club known as OiNK.
OiNK specialised in distributing albums leaked on to the internet, often weeks ahead of their official release date. More than 60 major album releases have been leaked on OiNK so far this year, making it the primary source worldwide for illegal pre-release music.
The site, with an estimated membership of 180,000, has been used by many hardcore file-sharers to violate the rights of artists and producers by obtaining copyrighted recordings and making them available on the internet.
It is alleged that the site was operated by a 24-year-old man in the Middlesbrough area, who was arrested today. The site's servers, based in Amsterdam, were seized in a series of raids last week. OiNK's operator allegedly made money by setting up a donations account on the site facilitated by PayPal.
Cleveland Police and the FIOD-ECD SCHIPOL branch of the Dutch police undertook the raids, supported by Interpol, as part of a carefully-planned international investigation with anti-piracy investigators from IFPI and BPI.'
343263
submission
Faust writes:
A flat on Teesside and several properties in Amsterdam were raided as part of an Interpol investigation into the members-only torrent website OiNK early Tuesday morning as part of a two-year investigation by music industry bodies the IFPI and the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). The site has a claimed 60 major leaked pre-release albums this year alone and the bust is being touted as a victory against the "biggest source of illegal pre-release chart albums".