OiNK Launches Legal Defense Fund
Written by Ernesto on November 11, 2007Last month the popular private BitTorrent tracker OiNK was effectively shut down in a joint effort by Dutch and British law enforcement. OiNK admin Alan Ellis who was arrested during the raid now launched a legal defense fund to cover the legal costs and asks former OiNK members to help him out.
Alan has put a message on his reclaimed domain where he writes: “A PayPal account has been setup for those of you wishing to give a gift to help cover legal costs, if or when they arise. Although the account is not in my name (it can’t be), it is someone I trust.”
The donations will be used to cover the legal costs Alan is likely to make. If for some reason the money isn’t needed it will be donated to an animal charity (pigs?). The official OiNK fundraiser is hosted at saveoink.com, and unlike the scams we have seen before, it is totally legit.
OiNK was considered by many to be the best BitTorrent music tracker the world has ever seen. With 180,000 members it was without a doubt one of the most popular private BitTorrent trackers. Although most of its members found a new home by now, there is little doubt that it will be very hard to equal the success of OiNK
At this point it is still unclear what the charges against Alan will be, more details on this will come out next month. We will keep you updated of course.
Previously: Canadian Police Tolerates Piracy For Personal Use
Next: Prince To Take On The Pirate Bay
68 Responses
I saw this and was wondering if you would post it here :)
This is great, i have so much respect for OiNK (aka) alan. most site owners seem to disappear with no word of whats going on, but alan has been up front and honest about it all. and still shows his face here and there.
i wish you all the best OiNK :)
official OiNK.cd replacement?
what.cd
what.cd is good but can never stay online. I hear indifferent things about waffles, but who the hell can get an invite anyway?
Good luck Alan, I hope everything goes well for you.
Yeah, What.cd keeps going offline but I think they’re just going through some surges. Waffles.fm is like, impossible to get into and from what I hear, run by assholes.
Good luck, Alan.
if anyone has a what.cd invite, could you please send it to rj@dawnshosting.com
^^^
Has begging for invites worked in the past, 6?
I want to wish Alan well I will be donating to the fund, it’s unclear at this point what is going to happen with the case I hope it is settled out of court and as quickly as possible.
Since the destruction of oink I have stopped using bittorrent and I will not be buying any new music that is part of a major label.
I don’t know how workable this is in the long term but screw the record labels I have nothing but contempt for them.
number six you really are a number two!!
[quote comment="209799"]number six you really are a number two!![/quote]
no offense poster number two !!
[quote comment="209752"]Yeah, What.cd keeps going offline but I think they’re just going through some surges. Waffles.fm is like, impossible to get into and from what I hear, run by assholes.[/quote]
Actually it is pretty possible, and no, it is not run by assholes. The community is nice and friendly too. The most important part is: 1:4 user:torrent ratio. Used to be even higher until the recent influx of new users, but they will start uploading too.
31,644 torrents in so little time.
Thinking outloud…
With as much attention as the shutdown of OiNK has gotten, I wonder how an official replacement will be announced without drawing too much attention. Or is that even a concern anymore?
tyler - what difference would there be in launching a new site without much attention?
If that happened, the only people who wouldn’t know of it would be the regular users who don’t hang around IRC, or certain forums. ‘The Industry’ will find out about it regardless.
Yay, I requested this :D Good to see a blog where they listen to their readers.
Ben - To get a similar userbase to that of OiNK, there would need to be a certain amount of “publicity”. But at the same time, I was thinking that one would want to avoid exposure to “The Industry”. But you’re right. “The Industry” will find out regardless and I think at this point it doesn’t matter if they know or not.
Anyone know where Edward Webber (”Lowkee”) is? I’d like to get some money back out of him first. Never again after the Lokitorrent scandal!
oh Alan what have you done!
under UK law you qualified for free legal aid! now all the donations will be seized by the state to pay your legal costs
it was smarter you simply asked for some cash to pay your rent. the anti-p2p activity on your tail is gonna wipe out this defense fund. how stupid can a pig be?
this is not America
so if they win were all happy again and oink is back up with everyone having the same ratio they did before it got shut down?
Oink.ms
Screw OINK and I hope they get canned. Those elitist assholes banned me after 2 days… I got 3 albums with utorrent, left them for seeding, came back a day later to find a ratio of 2.3, but all my speeds at 0. Went to their site and they said they had banned me for cheating. I tried talking to them in chat, but they are so fucking high and mighty they said I was obviously cheating and their system wasn’t wrong. They then banned my ip from the chat. I tried back a couple times at later dates and they gave me the same BS.
i just wished the idiot had given someone the database so they could continue with the complete oink members
im a power user i’ve provided proof i’ve done my damndest to provide infomation like they asked to get into a new home and what do we get back?
nothing..
The smart thing would of been to give the database to a reliable source and when that source become a replacement all the old user accounts would be active to login.
but nope 1.5 +tb power user cannot get into the new communitys due to stupid idiots who run them
they ask for proof we give them proof and yet no response
hell we don’t even get a full confirmation of how to “Contact them” and they actually expect new member and new users to just telepathically know where to go to speak to someone? ….
it’s ridiculous i feel more like oink has screwed me over considering the amount of time and albums and content we put up and we are left in the cold
i’d of loved to help with his legal cover but since he shafted all his loyal users screw it.
Johnson’s a dick.
Haha, some of the comments here just prove that “exclusive” private torrent trackers are all about the “my ratio is bigger than your ratio” dick-waving contests, with users feeling cheated when their precious clubs get broken up.
Why would most ex-OiNK users even care now? Most of them have moved on to the alternatives that have popped up since OiNK went down. So much for loyalty to their beloved “community.” They don’t give a shit about that. Most of them just care about being members of what is essentially the “no girls allowed” treehouses of the digital age.
My ratio is bigger than your ratio.
http://askaslacker.blogspot.com
To 24
ex oink members will donate
Oink will be remembered for a long long time.
[quote comment="209861"]oh Alan what have you done!
under UK law you qualified for free legal aid! now all the donations will be seized by the state to pay your legal costs
it was smarter you simply asked for some cash to pay your rent. the anti-p2p activity on your tail is gonna wipe out this defense fund. how stupid can a pig be?[/quote]
Says nothing about LEGAL fees on the website so they cant touch it and honestly some legal aid lawyer wouldnt be any good in a case like this its kinda new law that they dont cover in law school and a legal aid lawyer wouldnt be able 2 take on the industrys 100s of lawyers
Quote from saveoink
“into the hands of one of Alan’s closest and most trusted friends where they will ultimately go towards helping Alan and his family in these difficult times”
[quote comment="209899"]i just wished the idiot had given someone the database so they could continue with the complete oink members
im a power user i’ve provided proof i’ve done my damndest to provide infomation like they asked to get into a new home and what do we get back?
nothing..
The smart thing would of been to give the database to a reliable source and when that source become a replacement all the old user accounts would be active to login.
but nope 1.5 +tb power user cannot get into the new communitys due to stupid idiots who run them
they ask for proof we give them proof and yet no response
hell we don’t even get a full confirmation of how to “Contact them” and they actually expect new member and new users to just telepathically know where to go to speak to someone? ….
it’s ridiculous i feel more like oink has screwed me over considering the amount of time and albums and content we put up and we are left in the cold
i’d of loved to help with his legal cover but since he shafted all his loyal users screw it.[/quote]
dude are you just stupid or really really retarded how did he shaft u? do u think he KNEW this was going to happen? seems like u have a problem with the other trackers more than oink and how is it alans fault that you cant get a invite to another tracker
lol u say what do u get back and that alan shafted u well why are you even on BT if you think hes given u nothing back its about SHARING u give abit u get abit and u obviously got a fair bit if ur sayin ur a 1.5tb power user dude honestly get a life
theres so much more i could say about u but im not even gonna waste my time lets just sum it all up in a few words
U SUCK U STUPID FCUKIN CRYBABY QUIT YA COMPLAINING AND MOVE ON HE WAS THERE FOR U AND U SHOULD SUPPORT HIM NOW THAT HE NEEDS UR HELP AND IF I WAS RUNNING A TORRENT SITE I WOULDNT REPLY TO YOU EITHER YOU SERIOUSLY HAVE PROBLEMS
Folks no need for profanity here , the industry employ trolls to get bad blood flowing amongst us dont fall for it and stay firm in your convictions, dont let the cartel puppets sway your focus to their dumbed down mindset, innovate and collaborate to work past hurdles they throw up, good luck Alan.
My cash will be on the way to this cause not because I ever used Oink but because I know standing united as p2p users we can kick the rip-off industry back into reality.
Johnson wtf mate you are a fucking tard…
what.cd is a great place, there often offline because there servers are overloaded with ex-oinker’s, there trying to let everyone in just go to there invite chan and u will get an invite, thats what i did. i’ve seen OiNK in there irc room too hopefuly helping them out :D and none of this silly bs about proving u had an oink account who the fuck takes screen shots of there ratio just incase a site goes down?
and you cant get into these sites?
invites are open now in what.cd
@29
“Sorry, user limit reached. Please try again later”
Duh
[quote comment="209908"]Why would most ex-OiNK users even care now? Most of them have moved on to the alternatives that have popped up since OiNK went down. So much for loyalty to their beloved “community.” They don’t give a shit about that.[/quote]
You do not get it, eh clever boy ?
Most ex-OINKERS care a lot.
Off course some are moving away,
Seems clear you did not follow all facts since the raid.
Well we, the real OINKERS, did. We are fighting for P2P and wanna make the outerworld clear something has to happen. The case against Alan is the change to let our opinions hear. That’s already happening but the more publicity the better.
Use you head, be part of the P2P world you are also living in and join the battle.
@ Duh
invites only tard
Maximum users 18000
Registered users 16254
Note that this won’t be a case of BPI/IFPI versus Alan Ellis.
If there are charges, the court case will be brought by the Crown Prosecution Service, and any fine will be paid to the government. The BPI/IFPI will not get a penny unless they bring a civil case for compensation themselves. They would be unlikely to do this until after any criminal prosecution.
Any damages paid to BPI/IFPI will not be of the ridiculous levels set by the American courts.
once an OiNK always an OiNK. I am sure most of us care a lot.
We’ve all been attacked, not just Alan :F
u can also donate here, all profits fgo to the fund!
http://www.cafepress.com/oppluvvpigg
What.cd sucks so far, there are alot of users and not much content.
Waffles.fm so far is pretty great, a little less users but wayyy more content. Its seems like the users on Waffels are the ones who were the most passionate about uploading music on the old OiNKs!
[quote comment="210204"]u can also donate here, all profits fgo to the fund!
http://www.cafepress.com/oppluvvpigg/quote
DO NOT ORDER THERE.
THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH OINK.
See http://tehpaine.blogspot.com/
for the only real ones …
[quote comment="210208"]What.cd sucks so far, there are alot of users and not much content.
Waffles.fm so far is pretty great, a little less users but wayyy more content. Its seems like the users on Waffels are the ones who were the most passionate about uploading music on the old OiNKs![/quote]
Please don’t start another what.cd vs waffles.fm battle. We’re all OiNK’ers and there is no need for fighting.
[quote comment="210150"]Use you head, be part of the P2P world you are also living in and join the battle.[/quote]
“Join the battle”? The battle for what? OiNK, or P2P in general? I have no problem with fighting for P2P in general, but I don’t give a shit about OiNK. I never cared about OiNK, and I was never a member. OiNK users wanted to feel like an exclusive little club, and now it’s up to their little club to help the OiNK admin(s) out, no one else’s.
And that’s the problem with exclusive private trackers like OiNK: When their shit gets fucked, the only people obligated to care are the few thousand members that were actually able to use the site in the first place. And it’s an even bigger problem that many members have already moved on because they had very little loyalty to the community there to begin with.
Note that I’m not some bitter asshole that never got an invite or anything. I’m not. I never sought out an OiNK membership because anything I want is available via other sources. I’m just trying to point out a negative aspect to these elitest private trackers.
[quote comment="210381"][quote comment="210150"]I’m just trying to point out a negative aspect to these elitest private trackers.[/quote]
What was the “negative aspect” again?
bcxb
[quote comment="210452"][quote comment="210381"][quote comment="210150"]I’m just trying to point out a negative aspect to these elitest private trackers.[/quote]
What was the “negative aspect” again?[/quote]
“When their shit gets fucked, the only people obligated to care are the few thousand members that were actually able to use the site in the first place.”
Read, yeah?
i really like stmusic
lets get back to it…
i have invites to what.cd and stmusic
i would LOVE an invite to waffles.fm
anyone care to make an exchange?
ps: i know, i know. everyone asks for invites, but what else am i supposed to do? i want OiNK back. :(
I see that the donate link on the site is disabled…. whats with that, then?
it was set up in a hurry and paypal needs linking to a bank account. Once done, you have to wait 5 days before everything is verified. I believe that this is what the account is waiting for .. should be back up Monday (Tuesday at the latest)
Oink had a great selection but their community was the worst I’ve seen of any torrent site. Just about everyone in the forums were rude or outright mean and condescending. If they had been a little nicer this whole time more people would be willing to help them out now. I won’t be giving them any money to help get that crappy community back online after they treated me like shit several times for no reason other than they could. Shoulda thought of that sooner Oink.
well come on you keep saying about everyone is in waffles am i missing something do you have to contact them via telepathy? there is no email address there is no irc channel there is nothing anywhere to contact them.
so how there is even 1,2 members inside this waffles.fm i’d love to know how..
take it that im a bitter ex oinker and i am, im not bitter because oinks down im biter because people like me who was so loyal helped out shared way more than others are now left in the cold and told to get in touch with alternative sites but no one offers any infomation how too.
you know how annoying it is?
Next everyone says p2p and torrents should stick together and then what happens it’s meant to be about giving and taking, soon as these clubs start up no-one wants to give out ways to get in but they themselves was once in our shoes waiting for someone to get them on-board.
and this is meant to be p2p and community’ sticking together?
haha yea right
Agreed, no one. The forums were chock full of twats and the only good thing OPP’s demise is that I never have to stumble on it again.
the paypal account has been put on hold by the lucks of it.. I just went to donate and got a nice message from paypal
hxxp://oink.cx.la/ et al are still a scam. I’ve read these weasels’ posts on various boards up until their rescheduled11/11 “unveiling.” Their bogus site promises monies will go to Alan. Its bullshit.
@Johnson- you are an ass. At best.
You appear to be laboring under some delusion that you are owed something. You are the flipside of that asshat ‘musician’ who posted here when OiNK went down, calling all its members theives. Another frustrated dipshit, expecting something for nothing.
I’m going to wait to see how the Oinkfund pans out before donating, but if it appears legit- sure. A middle finger to the RIAA mafia, if nothing else.
lol this is even more funnier than crap singer prince suing TPB..one should never donate its just being STUPID your likely going to be scammed and by the way who really cares about a hasbeen torrent site like oink its time to move on
I’ve tried to donate some money but I got the msg:
“This recipient is currently unable to receive money.”
Weird msg.
I wonder if, in the case, the defence is going to try and dig out a correlation between OiNK top ranking tracks/artists and increases in high street sales of the above.
I know there’s a link, I’ve read them before, one in particular springs to mind about BattleStar Galactica being the most popular program ever to air on the SciFi Channel directly because of the popularity of torrents, story here:
http://www.mindjack.com/feature/piracy051305.html
There are others. I myself have taken a liking to Dexter and I don’t normally watch TV. It’s in its second season but there are loads of people keeping the obviously old torrents alive and sharing ‘em. I download and do the same.
Ain’t this behaviour helping the companies involved?
Reason 1.
I tell my friends about how good I think Dexter is. I hand them a DVD containing the first few episodes of season one on DVD to watch, they’re sold and go out and by the season one DVD; they don’t download torrents :s
Reason 2.
I’m advertising Dexter via word of mouth, which we all know is the branding/marketing King Pin.
Enough reasons.
Was/Is OiNK such a bad place?
I guess that depends on whether any individual or company realistically suffered as a direct consequence of the activities of OiNKS dedicated community. If not did they benefit?
If the latter could be proved It would be a powerful defence.
LiquidEyes.
Im assuming Trent Reznor is going to help out :)
I’m afraid I’m in agreement with Johnson on the growing frustration with Waffles. There’s so much hype surrounding it, and yet most of the people who made OiNK the great site that it was seem to be getting shut out.
I sent proof of my OiNK power user status on October 30th, and I’ve sent a follow-up message since then , I have yet to receive an acknowledgement, much less an invite.
@TeamHCN
its a hard life isn’t it.
i think you’ll find your dummy on the floor next to Johnson’s.
hopefully its on your way out of this discussion, and you’ll be taking Johnson with you.
good luck Alan - long live OiNK.
Damn right Johnson.
All these retarded people should just.. go away. they are polluting the damn world with their attitude and act! Fuck waffles. Stick together! Help each other out.
@ Jay
I donated 20 quid to the OiNK legal defense fund the moment it came online , what exactly have you done to help?
I’m guessing you’re already a Waffles member, otherwise you wouldn’t be a callous prick. I never said anything bad about Waffles, only how frustrating I found it to be seemingly ignored, despite having sent emailed proof of my OiNK membership the day Waffles opened.
Is anyone a member of stmusic?
oink who??
invite-only sites suck, they have obviously nothing to do with sharing
couldn’t care less if they all got taken down
Hi, I have 250 GB of music too share, I had a nice share ratio at OiNK!
Please invite me for waffles or what. Thanks!
the2ndmail AT gmail DOT com
for those who care, the paypal donation is back online http://www.oink.cd
for those of you who don’t .. well .. don’t go there :-)
YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO KEEPING DEMONOID’S TORRENTS ALIVE?
KEEP SEEDING
FOR UTORRENT USERS: PUT ON THE TORRENTS WHICH ARE RED COLORED AS MANY TRACKERS AS YOU CAN. ALL ACCOMPISHED FILES YOU GOT COULD BE UPPED ELSEWHERE AND THEY WOULD NEVER DIE. JUST KEEP SEEDING
WORKS WITH ME
This isn’t a discussion of being loyal to OiNK. Most of us oinkers have moved on to new trackers, which isn’t that strange. For me (and hopefully for most of the others) the most important thing is MUSIC. It doesn’t matter if it’s from what.cd, waffles.fm, libble or any other tracker, I’ll keep uploading and downloading as long as I’ve got a need for music.
Do people mean that when OiNK went down, I should have stopped looking for new music? Should I have stared into that waffle picture to substitute my music listening? There are many ways to be loyal, but you can’t be loyal to something that doesn’t exist.
LiquidEyes, excellent points!
I too feel that downloading brings people in contact with shows, music, etc that they may have never found otherwise. I myself came across countless artists that I never knew existed due to my Oink membership. I then told my friends, who bought it online or at the store, they told their friends, and on, and on, and on.
I honestly almost cried when I got back in town a few days after oink got taken down and tried to log on. I saw that evil message and the first though in my mind was “fuck, where am I going to discover new music from?”
Sadly, i have yet to recieve an invite to either of these sites, maybe I just didn’t know the right people on oink. Oh well. Maybe someday I will, and i will rejoice!
Not that i’m begging, but if anyone has an invite to either, feel free to get in touch. Not gonna post my email here, cuz that’s just silly. but search on myspace for djtransient and hit me up there.
P-Funk All Star
Good Luck!
Legally Confused.com Will help you with make a website 4 free
3 references to this post
Responses are closed
All remaining responses will continue to be archived. Use the TorrentFreak forums if you want to discuss something.