OiNK.cd Servers Raided, Admin Arrested

[iNSOMNiA]

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

"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 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 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."

:source: Source: http://torrentfreak.com/oinkcd-servers-raided-admin-arrested/
:view: View: OiNK Investigation Seeks Identities and Activities of Users (http://torrentfreak.com/oink-investigation-seeks-identities-and-activities-of-users-071023/)
:view: View: OiNK Admin Released From Custody (http://torrentfreak.com/oink-admin-released-from-custody-071023/)
:view: View: Why Are The IFPI and BPI Allowed To Hijack OiNK? (http://torrentfreak.com/why_are_the_ifpi_and_bpi_allowed_071024/)
:view: View: OiNK Database Didn’t ‘Self Destruct’, Wasn’t Encrypted But Users Safe? (http://torrentfreak.com/oink-database-didnt-self-destruct-wasnt-encrypted-but-users-safe-071025/)
:view: View: OiNK Launches Legal Defense Fund (http://torrentfreak.com/oink-fund-071111/) - November 11, 2007

[Skiz]

I'm sure that fellow in the cuffs would love to give a big "thanks" to all you traders out there. :dry:

[DefX]

I hardly doubt its the traders Skizo lol. The site just had too big of a name. Everyone knew it was just a matter of time. Frankly, I'm surprised they lasted as long as they did. Even if trading didn't exist that allowed the propagation of its popularity, they'd still be as big a target to the authorities. It's impossible to contain a site that big under the rug without the wrong people noticing.

[Skiz]

Agreed. I just saw my chance and took it. :lol:

I would have gotten away with it too if weren't that pesky DefX. :fist:

[BawA]

i thought onik was private tracker how can it have +1,000,000 peers :ermm:

bad for him but on other hand he must have known this would be evadable in Bt business, hopefully his prepared.
i always thought hosting a server in same country as one lives is a stupid thing specially UK or US.

[bngrnthemouth]

That sucks, I just got on here a month or so ago trying to figure out how to get an invite. Maybe it will be better that I didn't, ha. I was hoping to get some of the rare music i knew they had on there. Anyone know any better sites?

Oink was a great idea and could change the way filesharing takes place in the future. Its just too bad we lost a site that was pretty much the iTunes store, for free. (especially for those of us that didn't get to use it :()

[Pzero]

There were 175,000 (approx) users, over a million is...yeah

[jesper12345]

Nooooooooooooo

[FreeDoom]

That's bad news :(

[Max.Damage]

maybe we can start another tracker? :P oink.cd.com
I only got there like one month ago... I live in the netherlands, so i hope police wont come to my door and get me :)

Why there where so many users, is because every power user would got 4 invites once in a while (upload 10gb and ur a poweruser).

Too bad... dont know if there are any other sites, where the users themselves rip the music very fast, even before scene-pre.

[$SnoopDo2G$]

lol they already reading what you sayin' they'll trace you even if you go in north pole :P

[zema]

maybe they even run this site - like Vatican who created heretics to strengthen the faith of their believers but also to avoid any problems with self made heretics. http://filesharingtalk.com/vb3/../../images/smilies/ph34r.gifhttp://filesharingtalk.com/vb3/../../images/smilies/ph34r.gifhttp://filesharingtalk.com/vb3/../../images/smilies/ph34r.gif

[misledhope]

theres tons of music resources but its the all the user ripped content there thats a sad loss. it will take along time for whatever becomes oinks replacement as the leading site to achieve.

[thewizeard]

..They were also to paranoid and probably made a lot of enemies by banning members, often unreasoanbly...

[0110]

..They were also to paranoid and probably made a lot of enemies by banning members, often unreasoanbly...

Word

i'm not sad for them ;)

[Racket]

More Links. :(
BBC Youtube Video: OiNK Website Shutdown (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuwwMZKYxag)
local paper: Police swoop to close down illegal music download website OiNK (http://www.thisisthenortheast.co.uk/display.var.1779471.0.police_swoop_to_close_down_illegal_website.php)

edit- I hope no one seriously uses the same password for any other site...

[Hairbautt]

This site has been closed as a result of a criminal investigation by IFPI, BPI,
Cleveland Police and the Fiscal Investigation Unit of the Dutch Police (FIOD ECD) into
suspected illegal music distribution.


A criminal investigation continues into the identities and activities of the site's
users

:smilie4:


“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.”
That's what ticks off businesses.^

[SpeedFreak]

damn... is it to late to get an invite there ?

[Hairbautt]

Added the latest.

:unsure: So like...was he ghey er somethin'? What was with the :ghey: themes and cute crap.

[WarrenBuffet]

NO FUCKIGN WAY>!!!! how could this happen. Everyone it is your duty to Fight back. I live in the US, So I can't..... but you English people need to petition or something!

[$SnoopDo2G$]

i heard some people were posting their own pics in their forums before
lol @ them...

And zaa730 whut u gonna fight back??? :w00t:
Interpol??? ahhahahahhaha let me laugh...:wacko::D

[killuminati96]

Just imagine if they put this much time, money & effort into catching Osama bin Laden. I guess killing 3,000+ people is ok just don't download Britney Spears new hit crappy ass song in mp3 form....OR ELSE!!!!!!

[Hairbautt]

Those operating OiNK apparently made substantial money from it. The service hosted hundreds of thousands of torrent files, and had millions of users connecting to those torrents, making it one of the largest BitTorrent sites.


:unsure:

:source: BetaNews: Private BitTorrent Site Raided, Operators Arrested (http://www.betanews.com/article/Private_BitTorrent_Site_Raided_Operators_Arrested/1193162802)

[hockeythug]

As a OINK user that was seeding torrents, should I be worried about legal prosecution?

[Mr JP Fugley]

As a OINK user that was seeding torrents, should I be worried about legal prosecution?

D'uh.

You think they might have seized the server and be getting lists of who seeded what.

Oh that's right, it said they seized the server.

[Hairbautt]

Yea, try visiting the site.

[bourne]

Damn! This is the begining of the end? I hope not!

[Chewy]

http://www.sendspace.com/file/yk4fww

if u wanna watch the BBC exert

[hockeythug]

As a OINK user that was seeding torrents, should I be worried about legal prosecution?

D'uh.

You think they might have seized the server and be getting lists of who seeded what.

Oh that's right, it said they seized the server.

O well, bring it on then.

[Chewy]

with a 180k users, I'd doubt I'd get a visit...

[willy101]

this sucks... my friend just got an account yesterday...

[KiNdZiUs]

That's bad :( I'm using acc only for 2 days :cry:

It's sad for all dudies who were using OiNK.

Respect to OiNK admin !

[Cerise]

with a 180k users, I'd doubt I'd get a visit...

I doubt too :dry:
Anyway, that's a very bad news for all those "private" trackers who expected to be more secure than Mininova & Co.

Hope OiNK won't have too much trouble...

[[Jon]]

TL just shut down the invite system because of this. won't be any new users for a long time i suspect..

[Mr JP Fugley]

D'uh.

You think they might have seized the server and be getting lists of who seeded what.

Oh that's right, it said they seized the server.

O well, bring it on then.

Willdo.

Your ISP will have already started monitoring your use and be keeping records of how much you are downloading and from where. To find the extent of your downloading from elsewhere.
The action today is an ongoing investigation, not the start of one.

At a later date, perhaps a month or two from now a decision will be made as to whether you will be one of the people who should be made an example off.

You will then receive the Cease and Desist letter from the ISP, this means that enough material has been gathered to prove the offence and they are formally telling you to stop it.

If you haven't stopped before then (and you should have) you really should.

[Cerise]

http://oinkmemorial.blogspot.com/

[Mr JP Fugley]

with a 180k users, I'd doubt I'd get a visit...

I doubt too :dry:
Anyway, that's a very bad news for all those "private" trackers who expected to be more secure than Mininova & Co.

Hope OiNK won't have too much trouble...

How many times do I need to say this to you people. There aren't any private trackers anymore. Haven't been for ages.

Why do you think the others are closing down their invites system FFS.

[Hairbautt]

Spy^ fyi :devil: To hell with the BT section Invites then!

[AmpeD]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRaVhG-Mb_0
the hosting provider interview

[durex]

Sad day ....... :(

[Mr JP Fugley]

at AmpeD

:lol:

Automerged

You want to know who's helping to kill BT - count your rep points.

Woohoo, I just got an invite to Blah by swapping for an oink invite. Haven't got a clue who I invited onto that "private" tracker like but woohoo, I've got Blah and my penis just got longer.

[Melvinmeow]

http://torrentfreak.com/oink-admin-released-from-custody-071023/

He was just released!!!

[Cerise]

Very helpful site about what's going on :
http://enjoys.it/2007/10/23/some-facts-and-some-rumors-about-the-oink-takedown/

[Mr JP Fugley]

http://torrentfreak.com/oink-admin-released-from-custody-071023/

He was just released!!!

Of course he was, who thought he would be remanded in custody.

[PooBar]

the reason they say over one million peers is that...
some may be leeching many torrents and user's seeding many torrents, with over a hundred thousand user;s it could very well equal a million peers.
am i right? feel free to correct me.
and they did not host any music file's, just .torrent file's

RIP OiNK, i am very sad...BUT,it may come back,we can only hope.

[Sgtt]

bad bad news, I was new member on Oink only two weeks. :(

[Chewy]

the irc is on dalnet fyi

irc.dal.net

#oink

#oink-news

[Mr JP Fugley]

the reason they say over one million peers is that...
some may be leeching many torrents and user's seeding many torrents, with over a hundred thousand user;s it could very well equal a million peers.
am i right? feel free to correct me.
and they did not host any music file's, just .torrent file's

RIP OiNK, i am very sad...BUT,it may come back,we can only hope.

Indeed, when he does a deal with the authorities, then "they" will come back.

[fakiefakes]

According to the stuff I've been reading... its says admin made thousands of pounds. How?

[freakyflow7]

So do they have a free sign up day.. when/if they come back? or the old user accounts backed up in a secret location or something like that?

[Alien5]

the site will be back tomorrow, around tea time. :eat:

[Hairbautt]

Tea time? See here: http://filesharingtalk.com/vb3/p-last-one-post-gets-20-post2362705/postcount28373

Quit givin' everyone false hope. And what's with your sig?

[Alien5]

see here for oink rumor: http://filesharingtalk.com/vb3/f-bittorrent-43/t-oink-closed-4-ever-tomorrow-243094

[iNSOMNiA]

http://torrentfreak.com/oink-admin-released-from-custody-071023/

He was just released!!!

"NFOrce, the ISP of OiNK, said today in an interview (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRaVhG-Mb_0) that they were not aware of any illegal activities surrounding the site. They thought OiNK was hosting a streaming video site or a weblog. Yeah, right." :rolleyes:

Seriously I think when you own a site who drags too much attention and basically is a huge ca$h cow like OiNK.. what would you think was going to happen ?
I'm just surprised they had some back up on the NL side :dabs:

[Chip Monk]

According to the stuff I've been reading... its says admin made thousands of pounds. How?

Do you think he may have been lying about the level of donations towards the "server costs".

[mbucari1]

According to the stuff I've been reading... its says admin made thousands of pounds. How?

Do you think he may have been lying about the level of donations towards the "server costs".
hosting company said the server cost 35K euros. I wonder if that's monthly or annually.

[Jiggles]

if you own a major copyright infringement site in the UK, the UK will kick your ass. the UK laws are the strongest in the world. bs is not tolerated in the UK.

[Broken]

And another one gone,
and another one gone,
Another one bites the dust

[Mr JP Fugley]

Do you think he may have been lying about the level of donations towards the "server costs".
hosting company said the server cost 35K euros. I wonder if that's monthly or annually.

I think that's what they cost to buy, the machines themselves. They were enquiring when they would be getting their machines back as they were about 30,000 Euro. That's not the guy who owned oink, it's the people who owned the servers he had it on, as I understand it. Could be wrong but.

I suspect the rental was really what it said on the screen, a few hundred, that's only based on what it says on some sites I go to. The chaps here could possibly give you a good idea.

If there were 180,000 members and 1% (1 in 100) of those donated every month. That's 1,800 donations. If they donated £5 each, that's £9,000/Month or £108,000 a year. I doubt there was much tax paid on it, so it's the equivalent of earning about £150,000 a year. Not bad for doing fuck all. I just made those figures up so it could be much higher. It's also the reason why they have taken this action.

That's what happens on torrent sites, that's the business model.

[deuce6000]

From the ifpi website

British and Dutch police raids shut down the world's largest pre-release pirate music site

London, 23rd October 2007

British and Dutch police today shut down the world’s biggest source of illegal pre-release chart albums and arrested a 24-year old man in an operation coordinated between Middlesbrough and Amsterdam.

The raids, which were coordinated by Interpol, follow a two-year investigation by the international and UK music industry bodies IFPI and BPI into the members-only online pirate pre-release club known as OiNK.

OiNK specialised in distributing albums leaked on to the internet, often weeks ahead of their official release date. More than 60 major album releases have been leaked on OiNK so far this year, making it the primary source worldwide for illegal pre-release music.

The site, with an estimated membership of 180,000, has been used by many hardcore file-sharers to violate the rights of artists and producers by obtaining copyrighted recordings and making them available on the internet.

It is alleged that the site was operated by a 24-year-old man in the Middlesbrough area, who was arrested today. The site’s servers, based in Amsterdam, were seized in a series of raids last week. OiNK’s operator allegedly made money by setting up a donations account on the site facilitated by PayPal.

Cleveland Police and the FIOD-ECD SCHIPOL branch of the Dutch police undertook the raids, supported by Interpol, as part of a carefully-planned international investigation with anti-piracy investigators from IFPI and BPI.

OiNK used peer-to-peer technology called BitTorrent to distribute music. Torrent sites such as OiNK act as a library for torrent files. BitTorrent is the most popular software for internet file sharing and OiNK was the best-known for pre-release piracy.

Pre-release piracy – a growing problem

Pre-release leaks are one of the most damaging forms of internet piracy that is currently eroding legitimate sales of music across the world. Recorded music sales fell by more than a third internationally in the last six years, and independent studies show that a major factor in this decline has been internet users accessing peer-to-peer networks to steal music online.

Pre-release piracy is particularly damaging to sales as it leads to early mixes and unfinished versions of artists’ recordings circulating on the internet months ahead of the release.

Closed internet communities known as “ripping groups” often get demos, early mixes of commercial releases and promotional copies of pre-release albums in advance of release with a view to distributing the music as widely and as far ahead of release as possible. Each ripping group gains cachet amongst its peers for being the first to get new music and uses torrent sites to distribute the music as widely as possible.

OiNK operated an exclusive membership scheme by which users were only invited to join the site if they could prove that they had music to offer. They were encouraged to distribute recordings in the torrent file format with other OiNK members, and have to keep posting such music to the site to maintain their membership.

Once an album had been posted on the OiNK website, the users that download that music then passed the content to other websites, forums and blogs, where multiple copies were made.

Within a few hours of a popular pre-release track being posted on the OiNK site, hundreds of copies can be found further down the illegal online supply chain.

The recording industry says that the closure of the site is an important victory in the industry’s bid to tackle copyright theft.

Jeremy Banks, Head of the IFPI’s Internet Anti-Piracy Unit, said: “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.

“This operation was a classic example of how the recording industry can work with law enforcement agencies to prove that illegal operations on the internet are not immune from detection.”

BPI Chief Executive Geoff Taylor said: “BitTorrent has fast become the most popular file sharing client, and while the technology is now commonplace, closed criminal networks such as OiNK take time to develop; make no mistake, this operation will cause major disruption to this illegal activity.

“The government is now well aware of the scale of damage this theft causes to music – copyright theft starves the creative industries of income, which both threatens future investment in artists and vandalises our culture.

“That this individual now faces criminal charges will deter some but no doubt others will be looking move into this territory, and the authorities must keep up the pressure to deter the digital freeloaders.”

NOTES TO EDITORS

The search in Amsterdam was conducted under the authorisation of the District Attorney Ms A. Drogt from the Functioneel Parket in Amsterdam. This department specialises in intellectual property crimes.

[scribble]

oh fuck.

fuck the police. yeah, think of what they could do if they spent this effort to stopping terrorism, what a joke.

[rupertek]

yeah... really bad news.. it's embarrasing... he's hurting nobody we're gonna share anyway. Stupid "justice"

[rabidmule]

its a sad day for p2p

[jynx]

sorry for that :( hope the pollice doesnt do the same for other trackers...don't kill bittorent while it is rising...

[99shassan]

Well I've deleted my bitsoup account, they ask for donations every other day, literally everytime I log in I have at least 1 new message asking for a donation. I hope not, but my next bet is bitsoup

[Mikey2bz]

I wanted to cry when I went to the site this morning. I've been a member 4 years, and 150 Gig ratio overhead down the drain...

[iNSOMNiA]

UPDATE: Short interview of OiNK on IRC

<smartface> does the paypal account have any funds on it ATM?
<OiNK> it had some, and the account has been permanently limited

<friggy> you just get bailed for free?
<OiNK> yes

<smartface> did they actually question you?
<OiNK> of course, for hours

<sretsof> what was the stupidest question they asked?
<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.

<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

<apelure> what does the charges about fraud mean?
<OiNK> i've not been charged ...

<Xenafor> Are you a vegetarian?
<OiNK> yes.

<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?

<smartface> have you become a millionarie with our donations?
<OiNK> no

<j2los> do you think at minimum the forums will be restored as a community for discussing music?
<OiNK> i don't know

<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

<smartface> are you planned for a trial anytime soon?
<OiNK> the earliest date for trial is 26th december - though highly unlikely

<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 incriminate users

<Gl1mw0rm> are you still the rightful 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

<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

<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 :)

<lhnz> Why exactly did the cops want you to make a website for them?:P :D
<OiNK> not sure

<csc> so, do the cops know you're here?
<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? :)
<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.

[Mr JP Fugley]

<sretsof> what was the stupidest question they asked?
<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.

Oh ffs don't be ridiculous, the Police have access to more technical knowledge than this arsehole. Even if they didn't have, don't you think that the people who want action taken would be willing to pay for experts, if they didn't have their own already, which they do have.

This tit has been making fortunes from filesharers. Fuck sake he's been defrauding them as well by lying about how much had been donated towards "server costs". He's no better than the likes of companies who sell software which is already free.

[Hairbautt]

Are there any figures on how much the site has made in donations? :unsure:

[iNSOMNiA]

This tit has been making fortunes from filesharers. Fuck sake he's been defrauding them as well by lying about how much had been donated towards "server costs". He's no better than the likes of companies who sell software which is already free.

QFT

[Mr JP Fugley]

What's QFT

[AmpeD]

quoted for truth
use the googler

[Mr JP Fugley]

Oh right. Cheers.

[WARLOCK]

oh thats a sad news i neva gonna forget oink, but when admin gonna b released from jail so is site gonna comback or not any body know that?

[Mr JP Fugley]

He was released the same day. It's not the sort of thing which would be tried from custody.

I don't think it will come back in the same form, however the same people who were sharing the files will probably do it via other sites.

[iNSOMNiA]

No, the site wont comeback.

[WARLOCK]

ah man :(

[mera]

I really miss Oink :(

[Hairbautt]

OiNK Launches Legal Defense Fund (http://torrentfreak.com/oink-fund-071111/)

:unsure:

[GooDay4U]

Oh Boy, what a mass... Poor guys...

[IceTee]

R.I.P.
One of the greatest loss (if not THE biggest loss) of our "little" community :(