Rozzers nick MP3 peddlers, seize servers
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.
The INQuirer
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