OiNK Admin Charged With Conspiracy to Defraud
Written by Ernesto on September 10, 2008During October 2007, the popular BitTorrent tracker OiNK was shut down in a joint effort by Dutch and British law enforcement. Today, OiNK admin Alan Ellis has been charged with conspiracy to defraud. Charges against four OiNK uploaders will follow later today.
After extending the bail date 5 times, Cleveland police has announced the charges against OiNK administrator Alan Ellis.
Cleveland police initially stated that the charges against Alan would be announced during December 2007, but this was soon postponed for two months due to a lack of evidence, only to be postponed another 4 times.
Interestingly, the charges against Ellis are not related to copyright offenses. Instead, he has been charged with “conspiracy to defraud”, further details about the charges are not available at the moment, but are likely to be released in the coming days. On 24th September, the case will he heard at a magistrates court.
Later today there will be more news regarding the charges (if there are any) against the four OiNK uploaders. Initially, six uploaders were arrested on suspicion of “Conspiracy to Defraud the Music Industry”, and other copyright offenses. However, two uploaders were released from further investigation in July.
The OiNK shutdown was an international operation, named “Operation Ark Royal”, and both British and Dutch police were involved. The police acted upon information fed to them by the IFPI and the BPI, two well known anti-piracy organizations who claimed that OiNK was a money machine.
Update: Uploaders are charged.
Previously: Slipknot Frontman Says Labels Cause Piracy
Next: OiNK Uploaders Charged with Copyright Infringement
64 Responses
“two well known anti-piracy organizations who claimed that OiNK was a money machine”
Who’s the defrauder now?
Goodluck Alan (: .
Anyways… surely if this ended up infront of a jury they would be to confused to understand what the charges are?
conspiracy to defraud? they uploaded ‘copyrighted’ material, they either did defraud or didn’t, there’s no ‘conspircy’ to it. This is a waste of the courts time, come up with a real charge or leave these guys alone.
Regarding the topic, this is utterly ridiculous. I sincerely hope that Alan will prevail.
@3, I think we have to await further details. We don’t know to what the fraud charges relate.
The magistrate will determine whether he has a case to answer and if there is, oink will appear before a crown court with a jury.
“the IFPI and the BPI, two well known anti-piracy organizations who claimed that OiNK was a money machine.”
What the F.UCK!?
What makes me mad is it took me a VERY LONG time to get an oink account i maintained my ratio, and added some leeway for the amount I wanted to download then BOOM gone forever, and I cant even get an acct on what.cd or waffles.fm which Im pretty sure both sites do not offer what oink offered.
Wasnt the problem with oink - the reason why the police got involved - that they involved themselves with uploading unreleased material without consent.
So thats where the criminal bit comes in. Fraud is the posh name for steal. Conspiracy just means there was a plan that he was part of.
So bit of a warning - dont get involved with unreleased material - you dont know how it was obtained.
“two well known anti-piracy organizations who claimed that OiNK was a money machine”
yeah, that’s why they arrested him at his parent’s house.
well it had to be released from the artist who recorded it at some point or else how the fuck would it get out.
Wrong; waffles & what.cd, in combination, are more than enough of spiritual children of OiNK to fill the void up until either one of them (or maybe even both of them), catch up to OiNK’s quality. IMO, Waffles is much more like OiNK music wise, whereas What.cd has OiNK covered concerning apps, etc.
As much as OiNK being gone hurts, it could be a lot worse without the OiNK children around, carrying the torch.
I’m confused by the terms “conspiracy” and “defraud”. Exactly how do they apply to this case?
It seems the government has lost it’s way…
It’s DISGUSTING the way the police are handling this case - “massive piracy scam” < It was never a scam, it wasn’t an attempt to make money and donating was purely optional, though the police seem to believe it was to ensure “continued access to the site”.
I mean WHAT THE FUCK.
What’s even more disgusting is the continued false claims of copyright infringement that are directly associated with trackers. They really need to get their facts right.
To top things off, they’re backing two companies that have a lot of money to throw around…
Hopefully, they are just using the same scare tactics they have been using for the past year. Good luck Alan.
Good luck Alan
I doubt he’ll get away completely unharmed, not to mention being monitored for the rest of his life, but I do think things will swing in his favor.
Test case for the legalising of running a tracker? Hopefully.
It makes you laff that they go after so called pirates that only effect them slighty and no one is doing a thing about the machine that could end the world?
If the world blows up how are they going to get there money then??
Conspiracy to Defraud = No evidence.
Idiots.
Thats like saying.. WE THINK YOU WERE PLANNING ON DEFRAUDING US.. .. ook?
Have donations open to run the site and pay server bills, but donate to a politician which goes to put their kids in Ivy league school and you’re considered a contributor and a politician. Figures.
an inside RIAA specialist,
ps. on another note, now that we have our PI licenses, we can hack into your computer without consent. enjoy the port scans.
Conspiracy to Defraud = No evidence.
He probably forgot to file tax returns or something lol..
@11
sorry but waffles is nowhere near What.CD.
There is a huge difference in the # of torrents and members, not to mention all the cool features on What.
……………………………..
On topic, good luck Alan! This charge is ridiculous.
another torrenttard got caught!
people who are using torrents to download criminal copyrighted illegal piracy movie should be S H 0 T and r4ped in jail!
I was on OiNK for about 2.5 years, kept up my ratio, was a power user +, then OiNK was gone. I contacted tons of people about what and waffles invites, but to no avail. Anyone here want to help a fellow oinker?
Best of Luck to you Alan, and the rest of the OiNKers that are within grasps of the lawman. RIP to the best site that ever was, that harboured one of the kindest and most generous internet communities there ever was.
Good luck, Alan! :]
Conspiracy to Defraud?
They alweays pull shit out of their Ass!
The police and the justice in the US just lost any trace of credibility with this.
Sorry I mean The UK.
This is literally insane, the most bullshit charge I have ever heard of.
People who should be in jail are those parasites (the RIAA) who live of stealing and exploiting the hard work of the artists, paying to these artists only 7% to 14% from the sale of each album; while the parasites from the RIAA, who didn’t create nothing, steal the rest of the profits.
The law is unjust, and each time that I read an article as this, I am encouraged to share a lot more.
@23″criminal copyrighted illegal piracy movie”
“well known anti-piracy organizations who claimed that OiNK was a money machine.”
wow… these anti-piracy idiots are fucked :P
Any update on the other 4 people?
I hope they throw the book at him.
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I was on OiNK for about 2.5 years, kept up my ratio, was a power user +, then OiNK was gone. I contacted tons of people about what and waffles invites, but to no avail. Anyone here want to help a fellow oinker?
———
You can prove if you are worthy of a what.cd account by attending an interview in their IRC channel as explained here -> http://www.paulspoerry.com/2008/06/02/how-to-get-an-invite-to-whatcd/#comments
I hope they throw the book at him and those snot nosed uploaders.
@7
Quote from #7:
What makes me mad is it took me a VERY LONG time to get an oink account i maintained my ratio, and added some leeway for the amount I wanted to download then BOOM gone forever, and I cant even get an acct on what.cd or waffles.fm which Im pretty sure both sites do not offer what oink offered.
————————————-
Shut the fuck up man, no one gives a flying fuck that it took a long time to get a oink invite, and no one gives a flying fuck that you aren’t on what.cd or waffles.fm, you’re probably just one of those douchebags that begs for an invite on Yahoo Answers or something. Go die in a hole.
I agree with #35 bball.
Nobody gives a shit you retard. Shit happens. I got a invite to Oink the day it went down, hows that for a surprise.
Whoever was looking for a what account - it’s bollocks.
The download’s incredible, but uploading is near impossible.
Besides, everything there is on Demonoid. Maybe not as high-er quality, but it’s still there.
Don’t waste your time raising your hopes. It’s not worth it.
Conspiracy charges are probably the most abused laws in existence.
In the USA, conspiracy charges are a commonly used tactic to nail people who have not committed any actual crime. Even talking about (even joking or hinting about) doing a non-specific illegal act at some possible future (non-specific) time can result in a serious crime of conspiracy. Bullshitting is no defense.
It does not even take two people to equate a conspiracy charge. Presumably even replying to a message made by a spam-bot can qualify as conspiracy.
Conspiracy is basically a thought-crime. Simply having thoughts about doing something illegal is a crime. Since people’s minds can’t yet be read, the only way the government can know about a person’s illicit thoughts is through his communication with others.
Though there may come a day in the future when brain scanners become as common as security cameras and RFIDs are today, and a person can go to jail on conspiracy charges without ever uttering a word to anyone.
@All these people that claim they were on Oink:
You probably weren’t. Otherwise you would know someone that could give you an invite to Waffles or What. No please go cut your wrists because you just want to trick people into giving you invites.
Unfortunately conspiracy is the number one convictable crime (in the US)… Virtually EVERY crime involving more than a single person has conspiracy tacked onto the list of charges.
It ain’t right. I know it. Especially when ‘other’ conspiracies are downgraded to ‘theories’ by the very same media/government machine…
What an awesome world this is turning out to be.
Anti-Privacy morons is more like it. Scumbags.
Jiff
http://www.anoweb.br.tc
Please, please put “Cleveland, England” somehwere in the body of the article! Every time I read about this guy I have to do a doubletake because my first thought is Cleveland, Ohio. Yes its in the summary, implicitly, but you should be more clear in the article too.
theswaz, give me a way to contact you.
Swaz, email me at luggyman@gmail.com.. ill invite you to what
“Conspiracy is basically a thought-crime. Simply having thoughts about doing something illegal is a crime. Since people’s minds can’t yet be read, the only way the government can know about a person’s illicit thoughts is through his communication with others.”
Thank you for that thoughtful and well written comment. Your insightful post put into words exactly what I was thinking when I first read this article.
The other thing that really grinds my gears is how the justice system can be so easily persuaded to toss a person into jail based on what amounts to nothing more than a vague suspicion. On top of that, the accusers are also given all the time they need to eventually compile (read: create) the so called “evidence” they want, the source of which being nowhere near trustworthy, nor accurate in all likelihood.
All in all I think this story shows us exactly where, law abiding or not, humanity is currently headed and what the future has in store for all citizens provided they continue to stand by and do nothing. Goodbye liberty and freedom, hello police state!
I know of a few people in the states that were owners of smaller record labels. There were comments made by them in post that were related to artists that were on their label. They never said anything about being mad that the albums were uploaded. They just made random comments about the band and where they might be playing at. I think the whole thing is BS.
When the media companies are owned by those with a vested interest in copyright, why is it a surprise that such a bloated charge like “conspiracy to defraud” gets publicized and hyped up everywhere?
Roze
http://www.28chan.org/apstdt/
I really hope things work out positivly for alan. And for every person who. Claims they were on oink and doesn’t have an invite to what or waffles..you are full of shit. If you were on oink you’d have an invite to one of em.
Also - waffles is FAR superior than what. Waffles has the same community as oink and same qaulity music. It’s impossible to get/give any invites to waffles because their invites are only open like 1 minute a day. GL.
@23
“people who are using torrents to download criminal copyrighted illegal piracy movie should be S H 0 T and r4ped in jail!”
How do you criminally copyright material? Or criminally copyright illegal piracy movie(s)?
Confused? Troll?
May the reader decide.
Good luck OiNK.
Hi there , for who want to join what.cd or waffles.fm contact me at : tracker.accountz@gmail.com (give me good price and you are in ;) )
@#50
Its scum like you that should be charged and thrown in jail, selling invites and accounts, when they are free anyway.
GL Oink/Allen
terrible news :( … good luck Allen and lets all hope what.cd can last longer! The one good thing about the oink demise was the new feature rich what.cd! :)
The trolls on here are pathetic, they hate torrents/piracy, etc and yet they come to a torrent site. My sympathies to them. Obsessive hate is such a waste.
Now, regarding the topic, all Allen has to do is get a damn good piracy lawyer, I have the contact details of one lying around somewhere. He should be able to shrug this off, but still the worst things happen at the most unexpected times, so my thoughts are with him and the best of luck.
And to the readers - how much more of this are we all going to take? This is infuriating, the law has been taken to a ridiculous level where we’re being told what’s illegal and legal WHEN IT SUITS them. Burn down the anti-piracy HQs!! Let them rot!! GRR!!
I have ten what.cd invites, I must be pretty awesome :).
I don’t know if it’s still public, but they used to have an invites IRC channel. That’s how I got on there mere days after oink was shut down.
LMFAO!!!
Shame on you OiNK you damn n00b you got pwned.
feedthe.net ownz j00.
They cant find Osama Bin Laden, they cant find meth labs, they cant find cocaine sources, but they have no problem finding those damned music piraters. Fawk teh corporate music industry anyways. I will never buy another cd as long as Live… Vinyl on the other hand :P
enjoy jail, adam. don’t drop the soap.
They deserve more than this. Stealing is illegal no matter how you look at it.
I think that this is just an overlly drastic measure to make examples, which will continue until people understand that the flow of media becomes richer for all when it is unrestricted.
Thanks for the post, I talked about it on my show today:
http://dailybuzz.mobuzz.tv/shows/cern_blows_up_demo_vs_techcrunch50_feud
@56
They only find who they actually want to find.
although he was a bit arrogant, he certainly shouldn’t be put in jail for it…
I agree with 56, “They cant find Osama Bin Laden… etc…” but remember it took years for them to find him!
it took my GF 5 minutes to have a google map of his street with nothing but his IP pmsl…
and to all the anti p2p trolls…
p2p is NOT illegal “all over the world” in fact, here in Canada, it’s not only not illegal, but we pay a terrif on ALL blank media… cassettes, blank CDs & DVDs, Hard Drives, i pods etc… everything! and that terrif is to cover p2p and home copying…
get rid of police and we have freedom
burn in hell Oink….
“This is big business, with hundreds of thousands of pounds being made”
are they seriously retarded?
did they smoke themselves stupid?
they made nothing!!
jesus, how stupid can you get?
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