Quote:Police swoop to close down illegal website

POLICE in the region have said they have closed down one of the world's biggest illegal music file sharing websites.

The site is understood to have been operating from a flat in
Middlesbrough.

Up to 180,000 people were members of the private http://www.oink.co.uk website.
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They paid to upload and download music, some of it not yet released by record companies.

The home of a 24-year-old IT worker was raided in Grange Road, Middlesbrough, was raided in a low-key operation this morning.

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.

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.

He said: "This is an infringement of copyright law that in financial terms causes immeasurable lost to record companies.

"Wee 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."

SnailsPace Wrote:it really was an amazing site...they had every rare album i could think of. encoded in top quality....

i don't think well see a recovery like demonoid though...i think oink is history. atleast for a long while, maybe theyll sell the name like napster and it will be a pay site lol