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.