R.I.P. Oink

[mc_squared]

Police find one of world's biggest illegal music sharing websites – in Middlesbrough flat

Last updated at 13:58pm on 23rd October 2007 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/i/commentIconSm.gif Comments (1) (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=489237&in_page_id=1770#StartComments)
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.cd website and paid to upload and download music - many of it not even released yet by record companies.
Police and music industry investigators were targeting one man who was believed to have been running the website and making hundreds of thousands of pounds a year from this illegal enterprise.
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http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2007/10_04/oinkPA2310_468x331.jpgArrest: A suspect is led away to a waiting police van from the flat in Middlesbrough

In a low key operation, the home of a 24-year-old IT worker was raided in Grange Road, Middlesbrough.
At the same time his father's home and his employer - a large multi-national company - were also raided.
The website's server, which was based in Amsterdam, was also closed down by Dutch police.
The 24-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud and infringement of copyright law.
Cleveland Police said he would be questioned by detectives in connection with the running of the website.
Members joined the www.oink.co.uk website by invitation only and paid a "donation" via a debit or credit card to be able to share music with others.
Payments were received electronically into the website's company account. Detective Sergeant Tony Keogh, who led this morning's operation, said the three-month investigation had involved Interpol, the Dutch authorities and the British Phonographic Industry.
"The site specialised in sharing music and media, including pre-recorded material," he said.
"This is an infringement of copyright law that in financial terms causes immeasurable lost to record companies.
"We have been working closely with Interpol and our Dutch colleagues in Amsterdam where the website server is based to ensure that it too was secured at the time of arrest."
Chief Superintendent Mark Braithwaite, head of crime with Cleveland Police, added: "While some might view this type of act as a victimless crime there is no such thing - as the cost of an enterprise such as this will be added to the cost of any legitimate purchases further down the line.
"This is big business - with hundreds of thousands being made."

[*andrea*]

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.

http://torrentfreak.com//images/oink-arrest.jpg


The British and the Dutch police both contributed to the investigation that was initiated by the IFPI and the BPI, two well known anti-piracy organizations. The operation was supported by Interpol who coordinated the international cooperation.
According to early reports OiNk’s servers were confiscated in Amsterdam last week. This seems to be unlikely because the site was still fully functional 24 hours ago. The administrator of OiNK was arrested this morning by the Cleveland Police. The BBC reports (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/tees/7057812.stm) that his employer and the home of his father were raided as well.
Jeremy Banks, Head of the IFPI’s Internet Anti-Piracy Unit, said in a reponse to the news: “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.”
OiNK hosted hundreds and thousands of torrents with over a million peers which makes it more popular than most public trackers. The site was known to be one of the first places where leaked music albums appeared, so anti-piracy outfits such as MediaDefender were keeping a close eye on it.
In July the tracker already changed its name (http://torrentfreak.com/oinkmeuk-is-dead-long-live-oinkcd/) from OiNK.me.uk to OiNK.cd due to “legal” issues with their domain registrar. Unfortunately it now seems that the popular private BitTorrent tracker is in bigger trouble.


http://torrentfreak.com/oinkcd-servers-raided-admin-arrested/

[Black Rose]

The news on da street is that anyone with an Oink account from December 2005 is in hot water with the authorities......NO MATTER how much or how little they uploaded/snatched/stole/pillaged/enslaved onto their computer.

Is that a friendly policemen aknocking on your door?

[mc_squared]

Well as he was making money out of it, he got what he deserved.;)
Still, he must be feeling pretty "pig" sick!!:rolleyes:

[Black Rose]

Moved to World of Music as it will get a bigger impact here.

[mc_squared]

Moved to World of Music as it will get a bigger impact here.

That's where I had put it in the first place.:rolleyes:

[Black Rose]

O Really?

When I heard the headline "Huge pirate music site shut down", I thought they had closed down the popular music site of Captain Pugwash so you can purchase pirate music to scare your neighbours

http://skeptico.blogs.com/photos/uncategorized/pugwash.jpg

[mc_squared]

O Really?

When I heard the headline "Huge pirate music site shut down", I thought they had closed down the popular music site of Captain Pugwash so you can purchase pirate music to scare your neighbours

http://skeptico.blogs.com/photos/uncategorized/pugwash.jpg

That was shut down a long time ago because of Seaman Staines, Master Bates and Roger the cabin boy.:rolleyes:

[Black Rose]

Now where I am going to get my pirate music from?

[mc_squared]

Now where I am going to get my pirate music from?

Radio Caroline??:rolleyes:

[Black Rose]

They don't accept Visa

[mc_squared]

They don't accept Visa

Have you run out of pieces of eight, then??:rolleyes:

[Black Rose]

Yep :(

[mc_squared]

Yep :(

Then maybe you should consider setting up a phone-line scam!!:P

[Black Rose]

ITV's already done it

[Pony]

there isn't actually any copyrighted material hosted on oink's servers. the guy just needs a good lawyer, there's no way they can pin copyright infringement on him.

[mc_squared]

Well I reckon it won't be so easy for him to save his own bacon.................. :rolleyes:

[Pony]

Well I reckon it won't be so easy for him to save his own bacon.................. :rolleyes:


well, from the point of view of the law, the members of oink are actually guilty of copyright infringement, as they're the ones hosting and sharing the copyrighted materials.
there's a similar incident with isohunt, which is still operating at 100%, because the dude who owns it has a good lawyer. :P

[GazeboflossUK]

I was a member since the start.....

maybe I should keep my mouth shut!!!

[*andrea*]

:( i was never a member! who? what? leave me alone

*hides

[GazeboflossUK]

I state on the record that not at any time did I know that downloading was illegal.

I'm completely retarded and didn't know what I was doing.

(there, that should do it)

[*andrea*]

I state on the record that not at any time did I know that downloading was illegal.

I'm completely retarded and didn't know what I was doing.

(there, that should do it)

I second that :uhoh:

[Lore]

*hides*

[*andrea*]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/newsid_7050000/newsid_7057100/7057111.stm?bw=nb&mp=wm&news=1&ms3=6

[LiquidSky]

and to think I was going to open one. :shocked2:

[TimIM21000]

kind of scary, but yeah I had no idea what was happening. I just thought it was a site with cute animal pictures..........

[putainfromage]

this is why it's best not to be part of a huge filesharing organization. just do a bit on the side, people!

[talisman]

RIP OiNK it was an awesome site nevertheless:)

[bruttiиo]

We should all go to protest in front of the jail. he is our hero :cry:

anybody with a demonoid.com invite shoot me some love: eric.clay.h@gmail.com

[Famous Old Painter]

I've been refusing to join Oink depite the peer pressure. Just sounded too complex for me. Though it proves these things pay off.

And as long as they dont bust Soulseek I'll be fine :)

[Black Rose]

The owner will try and shift blame away from him and onto the users saying he had no control on what people were sharing on the networks.

[*andrea*]

when is it going to be back again?

i had so many ermmmm documents to ermmmm share into my computer :disappointed:

[Black Rose]

Oink will prob never be back online.

[Black Rose]

Found this, but no source was given on the forum I stole it from, so take it with a pinch of salt:

riggy> you just get bailed for free?
OiNK> yes
--
smartface> does the paypal account have any funds on it ATM?
OiNK> it had some, and the account has been permanently limited
smartface> did they actually question you?
OiNK> of course, for hours
OiNK> the police had very limited technical knowledge, which made the interview quite amusing actually.
OiNK> i wasn't willing to teach them how to use a computer
OiNK> they actually wanted me to teach them how to set up a website
OiNK> i just told them to google it.
smartface> have you become a millionarie with our donations?
OiNK> no
smartface> are you planned for a trial anytime soon?
OiNK> the earliest date for trial is 26th december - though highly unlikely
--
Xenafor> IS YOUR FATHER OKAY AS WELL?
OiNK> my father is fine.
OiNK> my father was not arrested, though they did take his work laptop
Xenafor> Are you a vegetarian?
OiNK> yes.
--
apelure> what does the carges about fraud mean?
OiNK> i've not been charged ...
--
knifeboy> Did they do the good cop/bad cop routine?
OiNK> no
--
Stormx2> Everyone is first and foremost concerned for you and everything, but at the back of our minds (I think) we're interested in what you think will happen the the pink palace. Obviously you won't have a starring roll, but will the backups be destroyed?
OiNK> why would backups be destroyed?
--
j2los> do you think at minimum the forums will be restored as a community for discussing music?
OiNK> i don't know
j2los> do you think it is absurd that only now that the site has been taken down has it been deemed notable enough for a wikipedia article?
OiNK> i found that amusing, yes
OiNK> i'm glad the article is staying neutral
--
guildmast> Are there any plans for an official OiNK donations fund we can feel comfortable donating to?
OiNK> not yet
--
ftdrs> seriously though, what did they accuse you of?
OiNK> conspiracy to defraud and copyright infringements
--
maxdoubt> do you have/need legal representation?
OiNK> i'm still deciding on legal advice
--
Kevix> did you have any warning before hand that the knock opn your door was coming?
OiNK> no
--
Yawg> did you anticipate a raid in the past? Did you take any precautions regarding site design and logs and whatnot to protect the community?
OiNK> the logs we store aren't enough to inciminate users
--
Gl1mw0rm> are you still the rigtfull owner of the oink.cd domain?
OiNK> unclear
--
Barth> what about the recent security/privacy changes to the site and the irc? was that a coincidence or did you see something coming?
OiNK> coincidence
--
midnightgt> (without incriminating anyone) is there any copy of the source anywhere? Would you be in support of a second coming of the website? How do you think this reflects on the war on file sharing? (Certainly I do not feel like we are losing)
OiNK> sorry, no comment Smile
--
lhnz> Why exactly did the cops want you to make a website for them?Razz Very Happy
OiNK> dunno
--
ATF> did you get fired from work?
OiNK> yes
--
gleam> do you think you or anyone else will ever hear from tmt again? Smile
OiNK> no
--
MooIsTooWrong> do you think most of the people in this channel are asking asshat questions?
OiNK> yes
--
uQ1> What grounds did your work fire you?
OiNK> i'm not going to go into that, sorry.

And now, something from this morning (after he'd seen the guardian article)
OiNK> they got my company wrong, but besides that, it's quite a good article
OiNK> the police were here around 30 mins ago, and they were not happy one bit when they left
OiNK> they asked me how i was coping with all the media coming around
OiNK> i said "i don't mind it at all, i'm just telling them the truth, unlike you"

[*andrea*]

Oink will prob never be back online.

they alreeady said it will :wacko:
yay!

[Black Rose]

Under the same name or a new name though?

[*andrea*]

new one o.o

[Pony]

told ya so :)

[Black Rose]

new one o.o

Then it won't be Oink :P

It might smell like Oink
It might look like Oink
But if it's not called Oink than it's not called Oink

[huntjd]

oink is now the number one site in the world for waffle recipes :lol:

[GazeboflossUK]

Hahaha, that made me laugh!!

Also, interesting to hear from OiNK.