OiNK Investigation Seeks Identities and Activities of Users
Written by enigmax on October 23, 2007OiNK, one of the world’s most popular trackers has been shutdown. Now, in the hours immediately following the closure, the site is responding but displaying an ominous message indicating an investigation into the site’s users has begun.
The message currently on the OiNK page is as follows:
Many of OiNK’s users have been enquiring if their details are safe on the site. The message: “A criminal investigation continues into the identities and activities of the site’s users” will not exactly fill them with confidence.
However, everyone in the BitTorrent world will be familiar with the propaganda put out by anti-piracy organizations and many will be familiar with a similar situation a few years ago when the LokiTorrent tracker was closed and seemingly none of the users were tracked down. Fear, uncertainty and doubt - it’s all part of the anti-p2p strategy but it’s hugely doubtful that 180,000 users will be pursued, it’s just not cost effective and most are scattered around the globe.
According to whois.sc, the visitors to the site are split: United States 50.7%, United Kingdom 7%, Canada 6%, Sweden 3.2%, Germany 2.7% and Netherlands at just 1.9%. Although of questionable accuracy, these figures should give at least an idea of the trend on the site.
Clearly the statement on the homepage is designed to scare all the ex-OiNK members back into the record shops and not let them think it’s safe to join another tracker. That strategy has been tried before (You Can Click But You Can’t Hide) and it doesn’t work. Additionally, more and more people are choosing to protect their privacy with VPN services such as VPNTunnel and Relakks, finding that a small investment is worth the peace of mind in the long run.
So who are the players in this OiNK takedown?
Most people know about the IFPI - The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. This organization says it represents the worldwide interests of the recording industry with the backing of nearly 1,500 record businesses in 75 countries. Its main aim is to fight piracy.
The BPI - British Phonographic Industry is similar to the RIAA in the US. It’s made up of hundreds of music businesses and fronted by the ‘big four’ - EMI, Sony BMG, Universal and Warner. Created in 1973, its stated main aim is to combat piracy.
The FIOD-ECD - Fiscal Investigation Unit of the Dutch Police is a worrying inclusion to the list of people involved in the closure of OiNK. FIOD-ECD is a Dutch government agency dedicated to chasing down people alleged to be involved in fiscal, financial and economic fraud - usually major criminals. With these people involved, getting access to records from hosts wouldn’t have proven too difficult - FIOD-ECD are not just another BREIN, they have some serious powers.
People familiar with the ShareConnector and Releases4u cases in the Netherlands will remember the involvement of FIOD-ECD. The case took over 2 years to come to court and the result was a complete failure for them. The admin of ShareConnector got off completely and a couple of small fines (around $350) were handed out to the admins of Releases4U for uploading copyright material. Additionally, FIOD-ECD failed to provide enough evidence to prove ShareConnector was involved in copyright infringement nor enough to prove that either organization was criminal in nature.
Many people will be keeping their fingers crossed that the progress against OiNK mirrors this.
Following a 2 year investigation (or 3 month investigation, depending on the source) which involved Interpol, Police are insisting that OiNK was a pay site. Members were given the option to donate but this insistence that OiNK was some sort of criminal network where people paid to be a member is clearly untrue but it’s likely that this is the reason the real police (as opposed to the ‘copyright police’) and FIOD-ECD are involved.
Jeremy Banks of the IFPI said: “This was not a case of friends sharing music for pleasure.”
Yes it was Jeremy.
Previously: OiNK.cd Servers Raided, Admin Arrested
Next: OiNK Admin Released From Custody
174 Responses
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[quote comment="193663"]ummm I haven’t payed for a torrent as of yet… I don’t intend to start now… I am happy being a seeder and a leecher were the case may be. $25 for unlimited downloading?? oh please. their is a gimmick some were…
I am honestly pissed you have the same first name as me.[/quote]
Well i might want to take your seed as it make me happy and mean that with your seed i make money by giving it to make leech.
my real name is piotr i use pedro because it make me more safe as admin and i always try think safe to protect my website busyness.
Oh no here come Shakiro.
hahahhaha..Pedro Drozdz,that made my afternoon…i needed a good laugh after the death of OiNK.
another tracker has been suspended too, My Bloody Tracker:
http://shoegaze.lt/index.html
I checked the message out and published the news myself on http://www.WhichWebsite.com
Well sucks to be you folks.
I would imagine the authorities could make more money from action against people stupidly using oink than they do from the speed cameras the UK is infested with.
Part of me is hoping all the leechers get busted and part of me is hoping both the leechers *and* the seeders get busted.
I hope you’re all crying to mommy about how you didn’t do anything wrong except download stuff you have no right to download.
rofl.
im cryin right now oink wqas my life. im only 14 yrs old bt i live in the US so 4 right now i think im safe
[quote comment="193695"]Well sucks to be you folks.
I would imagine the authorities could make more money from action against people stupidly using oink than they do from the speed cameras the UK is infested with.
Part of me is hoping all the leechers get busted and part of me is hoping both the leechers *and* the seeders get busted.
I hope you’re all crying to mommy about how you didn’t do anything wrong except download stuff you have no right to download.
rofl.[/quote]
Piss off ass fuck.
Most of the shit I downloaded was taped shows anyway, fuck these big brther government types that want to regulate the net. FUCK OFF YOU TYRANNICAL BASTARDS!!
what about software dls done off oink? is that a bigger flag then dl-ing music? thoughts appreciated
BURN CD STORES TO MAKE A POINT! WORLDWIDE DESTRUCTION, AND TAKE BACK THE STREETS FROM THESE TYRANTS.
[quote comment="193701"]… bt i live in the US so 4 right now i think im safe[/quote]
That one made me laugh hehe.
Why are the server and user database in the custody of some sketchy recording industry affiliate? Do they just bypass the police and law altogether in that country, and turn an investigation over to IFPI and BPI?
I get the vibe that moo.me.uk is a trap. IT’S A TRAP!!!
The sites will spring up but something tells me it will be a stupid thing to log into a new site posted here. IFPI MAFIAA they will all post that here just so you can login and get busted.
oink’s motto was “becuase moo just doesn’t sound right.” i can literally guarantee 100 percent that if moo.me.uk started it wouldn’t be by the same people that did oink.
fuck you paco420 fuck you, you are a cockass faggot and you should eat shit and die, oink rocked and oink2 wil rock so hard it will rock paco420 fuckin tiny balls out of his sack.
Why don’t the cunts go out and catch real thieves… Like the fucking thief who stole my baseball…
HAVE YOU SEEN MY BASEBALL?
FRANK & BEANS
FRANK & BEANS
…anyway, breakfast’s ready. Mmmm, bacon.
[quote comment="193457"]Dutch law doesn’t apply in the UK. The same as British law doesn’t apply in Sweden (see TPB legal threats for more) and neither does US law apply ANYWHERE other than the United States.[/quote]
That’s true in theory, but governments ignore the law when it’s convenient. Don’t forget that it was US law that shut down Allofmp3 (Russia) and US law that got the Piratebay raided (Sweden).
If all bands took Radiohead’s direction and lost their labels, they’d be much more profitable
FUCK … FUCK THAT SHTI
FUC KTHE FEDS AND THE GREEDY MUSIC INDUSTRY
[quote comment="193970"]If all bands took Radiohead’s direction and lost their labels, they’d be much more profitable[/quote]
That’s not entirely true. Labels provide needed exposure on a different level than just myspace. Don’t forget that labels are more than simply record sellers.
[quote comment="193718"][quote comment="193695"]Well sucks to be you folks.
I would imagine the authorities could make more money from action against people stupidly using oink than they do from the speed cameras the UK is infested with.
Part of me is hoping all the leechers get busted and part of me is hoping both the leechers *and* the seeders get busted.
I hope you’re all crying to mommy about how you didn’t do anything wrong except download stuff you have no right to download.
rofl.[/quote]
Piss off ass fuck.[/quote]
Good point, idiot. You make it apparent that you have really considered both sides of the argument.
http://www.thespacelab.tv/spaceLAB/2007/10October/MusicNews-26-OiNK.htm
Whats with this shit:
“After a two year investigation, the illegal download torrent OiNK has been raided by the police and Interpol (no, not the band) and shut down. It ends a reign of years of pre-release leaks, video downloads, and access to lots of material that eventually infiltrated a variety of torrents, blogs, and download venues on the web.”
Video downloads? Where do these websites and media outlets get their information from? I’m getting more and more angry the more and more I try to read about the situation.
If any one is curious about how they would go about fucking all of the users (which won’t happen as many people already mentioned due to costs, jurisdictions and time) this is a really good article about how the RIAA fucks the little people. Very informative: http://digitalmusic.weblogsinc.com/2006/08/07/the-riaa-vs-john-doe-a-laypersons-guide-to-filesharing-lawsui/
Hope everything goes well for the guy who ran Oink. It was a fantastic website and I hope he knows how many people are behind him.
Cheers.
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