Illegal website gets the chop
Web 2.0, E-commerce
24 October 2007
OiNK, an illegal music-sharing site, has been closed down after a combined operation by British and Dutch police.
A 24-year-old man from Middlesbrough was arrested in a raid co-ordinated by Interpol following a two-year investigation by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) and the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).
Detective Sergeant Tony Keogh, heading the enquiry said: "The site specialised in sharing music and media including pre-release material, this is an infringement on copyright law that in financial terms causes immeasurable loss to the record companies."
The site used BitTorrent, the popular peer-to-peer technology, to distribute music and is estimated to have had a membership of 180,000. OiNK was a members-only site where subscribers had to keep posting music to remain included.
Jeremy Banks, head of the IFPIs Internet Anti-Piracy Unit, said: "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."
To make more money from your website
CALL US NOW ON 01483 740800.
