• First CINEDUB and now IMAGINE got busted ...


    According to reports, movie release group IMAGiNE have been busted and their private BitTorrent tracker taken offline. The leader of release group EP1C, who declared war on IMAGiNE earlier in the year, told TorrentFreak that nine individuals were arrested following an Immigration and Customs Enforcement “joint operation.”

    At the end of July 2011, the admin of XtremeSpeeds.net, a private BitTorrent tracker, reported that his house had been raided by the authorities. He said that he was questioned under suspicion of being part of IMAGiNE, one of the leading P2P release groups.

    Although the XS admin denied begin connected, he did admit renting out a server to “a guy who rented it out,” a suggestion that he perhaps had suspicions about potential connections, intended or otherwise.

    XtremeSpeeds then disappeared completely and a promised August update from the site’s admin never materialized. What followed was an information black-hole, a common feature of ongoing piracy investigations where authorities aren’t yet ready to shout about their achievements and lawyers advise their clients to keep their mouths shut.

    Now the rumor mill is turning again. According to reports, IMAGiNE – one of the P2P scene’s most prominent release groups – have been busted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The reports, which have proven impossible to confirm from any official source at this stage, state up to nine arrests.


    Last year, IMAGiNE launched their own “secret” private BitTorrent tracker that remained under the radar for roughly 10 minutes. The site, UnleashTheNet, also known by its acronym UtN, was hosted in Canada but in the last few days it simply disappeared.

    This morning TorrentFreak spoke with the site’s host who informed us that they haven’t heard anything about any raids or arrests. A traceroute timed-out at the site’s IP address.

    However, there is one person who claims to know the details of IMAGiNE’s fate and he spoke with us just a few hours ago. So, has IMAGiNE really been busted?

    “Yep,” says DiGiTALiNK, founder of P2P release group EP1C. “ICE joint operation got them.”

    In an email to TorrentFreak, DiGiTALiNK went on to say that 9 people were arrested including IMAGiNE members Spunky, HoD, Jason, Tank, TheStash and Spangy, all of them within the United States. [See update below]

    If these words do indeed turn out to be true, this latest development marks yet another event in a turbulent few months for EP1C, IMAGiNE, and associated sites and individuals.

    In June this year, IMAGiNE published a warning on their site which declared that EP1C members had been banned and that anyone inviting them back would share their fate. It was claimed that DiGiTALiNK, EP1C’s founder, had “turned in one if not more of his members to the feds” and that a private FTP site of his was being watched by the authorities.

    In the hugely political world of private trackers, claims like this are not unusual. In many file-sharing circles paranoia reigns supreme but, as they say, just because you’re paranoid it doesn’t mean they aren’t out to get you.

    When EP1C’s DiGiTALiNK delivered his response to IMAGiNE’s claims, the focus was on escalating the conflict.

    “They crossed paths with the wrong person, they lie, cheat, steal and have a fake identity to make people think they care about there [sic] safety, but in fact many of there [sic] source providers have been busted because they have no regard for your safety, only want the fame of that release,” the response began.

    “Within the next few releases I will be providing proof of all this to the public and including all there [sic] personal identification information.. haha if I was a snitch they would have already been busted. IMAGiNE, are [expletives removed].”

    Immediately some details related to the identity of one IMAGiNE member were released followed by the locations of others along with the words: “Get ready for a War.”

    But those hoping to learn more from future EP1C revelations would be left disappointed. EP1C made their final releases on June 14th and 15th, dates which to within a week coincided with the accusations made by IMAGiNE.

    TorrentFreak pointed out the history of bad-blood between EP1C and IMAGiNE to DiGiTALiNK and asked if he had a comment. We also asked how he came by the more specific details of the alleged arrests. At the time of publication we’re yet to receive a response.

    After making releases of high-profile movies every few days for the last few months, last week on September 9th IMAGiNE made their most recent release – The.Guard.2011.DVDSCR.XViD.AC3-IMAGiNE. Nothing has been heard from them since.

    The group did not respond to correspondence sent to a secure account so only time will tell if this release turns out to be their last.

    Update: Fresh sources confirm that four people were visited by ICE
    Comments 17 Comments
    1. IdolEyes787's Avatar
      IdolEyes787 -
      That's it I'm done with filesharing. Not because of security worries but honestly I can't take it that people with the collective intelligence and maturity of a Seventh Grade Special Ed Class are a major factor in it. Someone point me to the nearest mall so that at least the next teen I deal with won't have any delusions about his importance in the grand scheme of things. Also who's brilliant idea was it to have everyone on the internet have stupid pseudonyms.
    1. Nelson419's Avatar
      Nelson419 -
      P2P has never been an overly intelligent group. As soon as I read "bittorent tracker" in the article I immediately knew that they deserve w/e is coming to them for using such traceable technology.
    1. Funkin''s Avatar
      Funkin' -
      Funny shit
    1. scrubby's Avatar
      scrubby -
      This article was posted on TorrentFreak September 13th, 2011. Why is this being posted here 6 weeks later ???
    1. mjmacky's Avatar
      mjmacky -
      Quote Originally Posted by scrubby View Post
      This article was posted on TorrentFreak September 13th, 2011. Why is this being posted here 6 weeks later ???
      Because who the fuck cares
    1. IdolEyes787's Avatar
      IdolEyes787 -
      Quote Originally Posted by mjmacky View Post
      Quote Originally Posted by scrubby View Post
      This article was posted on TorrentFreak September 13th, 2011. Why is this being posted here 6 weeks later ???
      Because who the fuck cares
      Better question is why you'd bother to create an account here just to say something so insipid?
    1. mjmacky's Avatar
      mjmacky -
      Quote Originally Posted by IdolEyes787 View Post
      Quote Originally Posted by mjmacky View Post

      Because who the fuck cares
      Better question is why you'd bother to create an account here just to say something so insipid?
      I observed that, but didn't even feel it was worth note. I just wanted to point out that what's important and relevant to him is really useless uninteresting nonsense to others (personalities not notwithstanding).

      *2 knots by design
    1. scrubby's Avatar
      scrubby -
      Quote Originally Posted by mjmacky View Post
      Because who the fuck cares
      Great response to a perfectly valid question. You obviously cared enough to make that pointless comment and the editors cared enough to post the article. I didn't realize the comment section was strictly for attempting to flame someone for asking a simple question.

      Quote Originally Posted by mjmacky View Post
      Quote Originally Posted by IdolEyes787 View Post

      Better question is why you'd bother to create an account here just to say something so insipid?
      I observed that, but didn't even feel it was worth note. I just wanted to point out that what's important and relevant to him is really useless uninteresting nonsense to others (personalities not notwithstanding).
      I'm glad both of you took the time to look at my profile and join date rather then comment on the article or say anything useful whatsoever. You observed that but didn't feel it was worth note, but yet you noted it anyway contradicting yourself.

      Insulting new comers is a great way to build a community. It takes a lot of hard-work, teamwork, dedication to build a site like this and all n all it takes a lot of patience and understanding between members to keep it going. And then it gets ruined by douche-bags like you two. Go be useless trolls somewhere else...
    1. Funkin''s Avatar
      Funkin' -
      Quote Originally Posted by scrubby View Post
      I didn't realize the comment section was strictly for attempting to flame someone for asking a simple question.
      Well now you know.
    1. mjmacky's Avatar
      mjmacky -
      Quote Originally Posted by scrubby View Post
      I'm glad both of you took the time to look at my profile and join date...

      Insulting new comers is a great way to build a community. It takes a lot of hard-work, teamwork, dedication to build a site like this and all n all it takes a lot of patience and understanding between members to keep it going. And then it gets ruined by douche-bags like you two. Go be useless trolls somewhere else...
      Firstly, information about a user is just to the left of his/her post while viewing in thread form, no digging or time required.

      Secondly, if you are seriously rallying behind your question, I guess the answer would be "because no one posted it before now". Having your answer, doesn't it seem like a ridiculous inquiry to defend at the cost of so many feathers ruffled? I can only assume you were hoping for an obvious answer, because if you were hoping to get a deeper response, I already covered it. (This is all of course ignoring the fact that you missed the poster of this article saying "Old news but meh, better late than never", which makes you seem absent-minded in making your very serious inquiry. I did say "ignoring the fact" because you probably are viewing the comments from the article page which doesn't show that comment.)

      Thirdly, before making your 2nd post, you were not the subject of a single insult. Your comments were judged on merit, as you had revealed absolutely nothing of your character. I will take into account in the future that you are hypersensitive and require special care and handling. Perhaps you should attach a tilt sensor on your side, make sure you install it with the arrow facing upward (away from the ground).
    1. seedprick's Avatar
      seedprick -
      actually you all sound like idiots and you all need to get yourself a girlfriend
    1. IdolEyes787's Avatar
      IdolEyes787 -
      Quote Originally Posted by seedprick View Post
      actually you all sound like idiots and you all need to get yourself a girlfriend
      Fine but by your posts I assume that you are willing to also include yourself in that group then.

      Btw I want the girlfriend on Fridays and Saturdays.
    1. mjmacky's Avatar
      mjmacky -
      Quote Originally Posted by seedprick View Post
      actually you all sound like idiots and you all need to get yourself a girlfriend
      Financially, I'm comfortable. However, I cannot afford a mistress at the moment. Any other brilliant suggestions?
    1. megabyteme's Avatar
      megabyteme -
      Quote Originally Posted by mjmacky View Post
      Quote Originally Posted by seedprick View Post
      actually you all sound like idiots and you all need to get yourself a girlfriend
      Financially, I'm comfortable. However, I cannot afford a mistress at the moment. Any other brilliant suggestions?
      FYI, seedprick (can I call you prick for short, or simply short prick?) Macky happens to be among the handful around here who have BIG PERSON jobs that involve drinking coffee, and not serving it...
    1. mjmacky's Avatar
      mjmacky -
      Quote Originally Posted by megabyteme View Post
      FYI, seedprick (can I call you prick for short, or simply short prick?) Macky happens to be among the handful around here who have BIG PERSON jobs that involve drinking coffee, and not serving it...
      You might end up damming the fountain of information that is semenprick, we are in need of more wisdom. For instance, he could educate us on why IMAGINE is important to me and my new underage Japanese girlfriend.
    1. mjmacky's Avatar
      mjmacky -
      In retrospect, I easily forget about the morons that bugger off. The more I'm reminded of them, the more angry I feel at the undeserving natural existence of most humanity.