Music piracy site closed

**Crazy Pellas** · **Music piracy site closed -** 23-10-2007, 08:34 PM

Music piracy site closed after U.K., Dutch raids
By Reuters
Published: October 23, 2007, 8:52 AM PDT

British and Dutch police shut down one of the world's largest sources of illegal prerelease music on Tuesday and arrested a 24-year-old man.

The raids in Amsterdam and the northeast English city of Middlesbrough followed a two-year investigation into a members-only Web site, which allowed users to upload and download albums before their release.

Prerelease leaks have become one of the most damaging forms of piracy for the music industry which is struggling with falling sales. Recorded music sales have fallen by more than a third in the last six years, the industry says.

An estimated 180,000 members paid "donations" via debit or credit cards for OiNK's catalog of music and other media.

Industry experts said the site had provided access to more than 60 albums before their release this year alone.

"OiNK was central to the illegal distribution of prerelease music online," said Jeremy Banks, the head of the antipiracy unit at the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), which helped police with their investigation.

"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."

Prerelease piracy is regarded as particularly damaging because it leads to unauthorized mixes or unfinished versions of artists' recordings appearing months before they are meant to.

Often it is those in the industry, who get promotional or demonstration copies of albums before their release, who are involved in leaking them to file-sharing sites.

British police said they arrested the 24-year-old on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud and infringement of copyright law. Dutch police seized servers and other computer equipment.

"While some might view this type of act as a victimless crime, there's no such thing," said Chief Superintendent Mark Braithwaite of the Cleveland police in the U.K.

"The cost of an enterprise such as this will be added to the cost of any legitimate purchases further down the line."

Artists are experimenting with new ways of distributing their music to fans, including providing it free over the Internet. British band Radiohead released its latest album on the Web and invited fans to pay a donation to download it.

A raid in Sweden last year shut down an Internet site that police said was a major source of music and film piracy.

Story Copyright © 2007 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.

source: Music piracy site closed after U.K., Dutch raids | CNET News.com

Don't like stories like this :\

DISCUSS

**Dj MXBI** · **Re: Music piracy site closed -** 23-10-2007, 08:40 PM

Sick

**A. Woods** · **Re: Music piracy site closed -** 23-10-2007, 09:47 PM

Is that a site like cp though??? To be honest though stuff like that has always crossed my mind when you talk about making cp bigger and bringing in more traffic...

**Crazy Pellas** · **Re: Music piracy site closed -** 23-10-2007, 10:04 PM

it was more like demonoid...

I know what ur saying about me having plans to make cp bigger.. my plans are to make the site be more focused on the music side of things tho...

it's just the fact the site had been getting watched for 2 years, and you don't know who is watching....

I would be more worried if it was a site like this, like if it was a4u....

**Lo-Fi** · 11:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crazy Pellas

it was more like demonoid...

I know what ur saying about me having plans to make cp bigger.. my plans are to make the site be more focused on the music side of things tho...

it's just the fact the site had been getting watched for 2 years, and you don't know who is watching....

I would be more worried if it was a site like this, like if it was a4u....

Maybe you should start limiting members? Oink was damn near impossible to get into. Or only allowing viewing of any forum after joining...

Anyways, I'm giving up on torrents. Uploading is illegal here in Canada, but downloading isn't...so I'm better of with RS and other web sites.

By the way CP...It really makes me appreciate what your doing here.

**Dj MXBI** · **Re: Music piracy site closed -** 23-10-2007, 11:08 PM

/\
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| Cosign
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**Crazy Pellas** · **Re: Music piracy site closed -** 24-10-2007, 12:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lo-Fi

Maybe you should start limiting members? Oink was damn near impossible to get into. Or only allowing viewing of any forum after joining...

Anyways, I'm giving up on torrents. Uploading is illegal here in Canada, but downloading isn't...so I'm better of with RS and other web sites.

By the way CP...It really makes me appreciate what your doing here.

I don't think there'd be any good in limiting members, it'd just slow traffic and decrease revenue.... as a guest you are only able to view news & updates, all general forums (excl. a couple) the Talent forums but not read the topics in the Talent forums, and the suggestions/feedback e.t.c. so everything is fine on that front....

Uploading here is illegal also, but downloading isn't.. so that's the same I guess...

I'm not a big torrent user either, when I do download it is usually from IRC or rapidshare e.t.c

I'm happy to be doing something for the music community lol

**Lo-Fi** · **Re: Music piracy site closed -** 24-10-2007, 12:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crazy Pellas

I don't think there'd be any good in limiting members, it'd just slow traffic and decrease revenue....

I forget that the internet is overall a business. In that case your right, limiting numbers would be shooting yourself in the foot.

**Crazy Pellas** · **Re: Music piracy site closed -** 24-10-2007, 01:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lo-Fi

I forget that the internet is overall a business. In that case your right, limiting numbers would be shooting yourself in the foot.

yup

**Crazy Pellas** · **Re: Music piracy site closed -** 24-10-2007, 07:56 PM

a few updates...

here's the original story from TorrentFreak: OiNK.cd Servers Raided, Admin Arrested | TorrentFreak

Quote:

The servers of OiNK.cd - one of the most popular private BitTorrent trackers - are raided and the admin, a 24-year-old man from Middlesbrough, is arrested.

and other updates/stories regarding this story:
OiNK Investigation Seeks Identities and Activities of Users | TorrentFreak

Quote:

OiNK, one of the world’s most popular trackers has been shutdown. Now, in the hours immediately following the closure, the site is responding but displaying an ominous message indicating an investigation into the site’s users has begun.

OiNK Admin Released From Custody | TorrentFreak

Quote:

After a turbulent day the admin of the raided OiNK.cd was released from custody. At this point it is still unclear what the legal consequences will be, but it is good to see that OiNK is back home.

Why Are The IFPI and BPI Allowed To Hijack OiNK? | TorrentFreak

Quote:

As you have read here already, a joint team of Dutch and British law enforcement were involved in ‘Operation Ark Royal’, to take down the music torrent site Oink. This action however, has brought lots of questions, with very few answers. Questions such as “Why Are The IFPI and BPI Allowed To Hijack OiNK?”

**Dj MXBI** · **Re: Music piracy site closed -** 24-10-2007, 08:32 PM

Damn....i dodged a bullet.....cuz i was gonna join good thing i never did......i know there a few a few members of cp that have an account there...so i hope they read this and dont upload/download anymore...

djloekee27 · **Re: Music piracy site closed -** 24-10-2007, 10:13 PM

dang, that suxs. i never even heard of oink, i've always gotten my pre-releases off of torrent or megaupload.

**Crazy Pellas** · **Re: Music piracy site closed -** 24-10-2007, 11:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dj MXBI

Damn....i dodged a bullet.....cuz i was gonna join good thing i never did......i know there a few a few members of cp that have an account there...so i hope they read this and dont upload/download anymore...

the thing about investigating users is just a scare tactic... do u think they are actually going to go after about 200,000 users? maybe the top uploaders.. or maybe none but definitely not a great amount

Quote:

Originally Posted by djloekee27

dang, that suxs. i never even heard of oink, i've always gotten my pre-releases off of torrent or megaupload.

i get a lot of official pre-release singles legally from the people at the labels, but i'm not really interested in anything i get from them lol.. it's just stuff that people here are generally interested in.. the stuff I am interested in i get off IRC or filehosting sites

**Dj MXBI** · **Re: Music piracy site closed -** 24-10-2007, 11:29 PM

None Da Less. :D