OiNK Servers Seized, Administrator Arrested

[AC]

http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article....&in_page_id=34

Police today closed down one of the world's biggest illegal music file sharing websites - operating from a flat in Middlesbrough.

Around 180,000 people were members of the private www.oink.co.uk website.

[Azure]

Nice.

Now Oink will just move their server to Canada.

[cSpooge]

Originally Posted by Azure

Nice.

Now Oink will just move their server to Canada.

nope. Demonoid was already shut down in Canada as well (they blocked all traffic from canada).

[Ro]

Was just going to post this.

I don't know if I necessarily buy this argument that many downloaders use:

"What we're doing is illegal? The record and movie industries are the ones ripping up off! We can't return crappy albums or get our money bakc after a terrible movie, and you want $12.99 for an album with 2 good songs and $8.50 for a bag of popcorn? Screw you!"

But......when a band like Radiohead puts their new album up on their website, available for free, and PEOPLE STILL DONATE MONEY FOR IT, something ain't right. Little Brother did the same thing recently. Phonte, 1/2 of the group, leaked the album himslef about 2 weeks ago, and urged those of us who enjoyed it to go out and cop it today (10/23). I was the first in line this morning for the hard copy at MW.

And some amazing reporting there. People did not pay money to access the site, and although maybe it was once that way, you didn't have to show you had a ton of music available to upload before you could get an invite.

I wonder if the raid/arrest/shutdown came down today because the new Britney Spears LP was put up last night? Sounds like the crackdown was in large part due to 0-day releases like that one being put up.

Anyone have any insight as to the legal ramifications of all this? Are we talking more "minnesota woman" lawsuits here?

[Azure]

Originally Posted by cSpooge

nope. Demonoid was already shut down in Canada as well (they blocked all traffic from canada).

IIRC the isohunt servers are located in Canada.

[BlackArcher101]

Nooooooooooooooooooooo!!!! OiNK rocked and having only been invited a little while back I was just starting to use it more. Sigh, bye 1 MBps downloads.

[cheung31]

Dang, I was only invited a few weeks ago.

[mykalberta]

Originally Posted by Azure

IIRC the isohunt servers are located in Canada.

Isohunt protects itself by only sharing the pointers to file, not the files themselves. I am pretty sure thats how they get around it.

[Azure]

Originally Posted by mykalberta

Isohunt protects itself by only sharing the pointers to file, not the files themselves. I am pretty sure thats how they get around it.

So why doesn't everyone else do that too?

[mykalberta]

Originally Posted by Azure

So why doesn't everyone else do that too?

Everyone else do what? I dont believe ISO hunt hosts the actual files. Its a middleman. When you download the pointers from isohunt your arent "stealing" anything. Normally their argument is they are simply a middleman and they normally have a useage agreement where you have to say not to host illiegal file etc.

In Canada its especially quagmireish as the whole question of downloading music is at question because of data charges.

[Azure]

Oh okay...makes more sense.

I know a lot of isohunt files come from demonoid....which was shut down a while ago.

[llama64]

Originally Posted by mykalberta

Isohunt protects itself by only sharing the pointers to file, not the files themselves. I am pretty sure thats how they get around it.

Napster tried the same defense, didn't work.

Actively assisting in the distribution of copyrighted works will eventually get you in trouble. It doesn't matter if you don't have a copy of the file and just host/link the .torrent file, you're still an accomplice to the act. Just because the law hasn't been designed to accomodate the situation presented by technologies like bit-torrent and Peer to Peer does not mean it will always be so.

So, my point: ISOHUNT and any torrent tracker site will eventually get shut down and it's owners fined for their activities.

I just hope the law doesn't bring down the technology itself.

[cSpooge]

Originally Posted by llama64

Napster tried the same defense, didn't work.

Actively assisting in the distribution of copyrighted works will eventually get you in trouble. It doesn't matter if you don't have a copy of the file and just host/link the .torrent file, you're still an accomplice to the act. Just because the law hasn't been designed to accomodate the situation presented by technologies like bit-torrent and Peer to Peer does not mean it will always be so.

So, my point: ISOHUNT and any torrent tracker site will eventually get shut down and it's owners fined for their activities.

I just hope the law doesn't bring down the technology itself.

Isohunt isn't a tracker at all. They are just a search engine that finds the torrents on other trackers. Its no different than using google to search for the torrents.


Demonid wasn't shut down at all. The just got a legal warning so they have blocked all traffic from Canada as a result. They are still running everywhere else in the world.

[mykalberta]

Originally Posted by llama64

Napster tried the same defense, didn't work.

Actively assisting in the distribution of copyrighted works will eventually get you in trouble. It doesn't matter if you don't have a copy of the file and just host/link the .torrent file, you're still an accomplice to the act. Just because the law hasn't been designed to accomodate the situation presented by technologies like bit-torrent and Peer to Peer does not mean it will always be so.

So, my point: ISOHUNT and any torrent tracker site will eventually get shut down and it's owners fined for their activities.

I just hope the law doesn't bring down the technology itself.

Right but different countries different rules. If Isohunt is hosted in Canada it isnt subject to the same rules as napster. I didnt know it was hosted in Canada but without actual seach testing it appears at least the public host is in Toronto. I doubt its actually hosted in TO, rather just using Canada as a mim host but...

[Staypuft]

Well that's just tremendous....first Demonoid...now Oink.
I'm running out of places to...borrow...music.

[mykalberta]

What exactly was Oink and how does it differ from an isohunt azereus combination?

[BlackArcher101]

Originally Posted by mykalberta

What exactly was Oink and how does it differ from an isohunt azereus combination?

You had to seed and keep a minimum ratio based on how much you downloaded in order to keep your account. It kept speeds very high.

[MaDMaN_26]

Originally Posted by BlackArcher101

Nooooooooooooooooooooo!!!! OiNK rocked and having only been invited a little while back I was just starting to use it more. Sigh, bye 1 MBps downloads.

took the words out of my mouth BlackArcher... dang it... I donated $5.00 as well to get the extreme searching options and I had a really good upload ratio... dangit.

[arsenal]

Uh oh...
http://duggmirror.com/tech_news/OiNK...ties_of_Users/

I can't access this at work, so maybe someone can post at least part of the article here.
Here is the original article:
http://torrentfreak.com/oink-investi...-users-071023/

[Azure]

wow...from your link...

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.

you guys are all screwed.

might as well post all of it...

Many of OiNK’s users have been enquiring if their details are safe on the site. The message: “A criminal investigation continues into the identities and activities of the site’s users” will not exactly fill them with confidence.


However, everyone in the BitTorrent world will be familiar with the propaganda put out by anti-piracy organizations and many will be familiar with a similar situation a few years ago when the LokiTorrent tracker was closed and seemingly none of the users were tracked down. Fear, uncertainty and doubt - it’s all part of the anti-p2p strategy but it’s hugely doubtful that 180,000 users will be pursued, it’s just not cost effective and most are scattered around the globe.


According to whois.sc, the visitors to the site are split: United States 50.7%, United Kingdom 7%, Canada 6%, Sweden 3.2%, Germany 2.7% and Netherlands at just 1.9%. Although of questionable accuracy, these figures should give at least an idea of the trend on the site.


Clearly the statement on the homepage is designed to scare all the ex-OiNK members back into the record shops and not let them think it’s safe to join another tracker. That strategy has been tried before (You Can Click But You Can’t Hide) and it doesn’t work. Additionally, more and more people are choosing to protect their privacy with VPN services such as VPNTunnel and Relakks, finding that a small investment is worth the peace of mind in the long run.
So who are the players in this OiNK takedown?


Most people know about the IFPI - The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. This organization says it represents the worldwide interests of the recording industry with the backing of nearly 1,500 record businesses in 75 countries. Its main aim is to fight piracy.


The BPI - British Phonographic Industry is similar to the RIAA in the US. It’s made up of hundreds of music businesses and fronted by the ‘big four’ - EMI, Sony BMG, Universal and Warner. Created in 1973, its stated main aim is to combat piracy.


The FIOD-ECD - Fiscal Investigation Unit of the Dutch Police is a worrying inclusion to the list of people involved in the closure of OiNK. FIOD-ECD is a Dutch government agency dedicated to chasing down people alleged to be involved in fiscal, financial and economic fraud - usually major criminals. With these people involved, getting access to records from hosts wouldn’t have proven too difficult - FIOD-ECD are not just another BREIN, they have some serious powers.


People familiar with the ShareConnector and Releases4u cases in the Netherlands will remember the involvement of FIOD-ECD. The case took over 2 years to come to court and the result was a complete failure for them. The admin of ShareConnector got off completely and a couple of small fines (around $350) were handed out to the admins of Releases4U for uploading copyright material. Additionally, FIOD-ECD failed to provide enough evidence to prove ShareConnector was involved in copyright infringement nor enough to prove that either organization was criminal in nature.


Many people will be keeping their fingers crossed that the progress against OiNK mirrors this.
Following a 2 year investigation (or 3 month investigation, depending on the source) which involved Interpol, Police are insisting that OiNK was a pay site. Members were given the option to donate but this insistence that OiNK was some sort of criminal network where people paid to be a member is clearly untrue but it’s likely that this is the reason the real police (as opposed to the ‘copyright police’) and FIOD-ECD are involved.
Jeremy Banks of the IFPI said: “This was not a case of friends sharing music for pleasure.”
Yes it was Jeremy.