The "War on File-Sharing" continues, and this time the Po-Po ain't fucking around. Feds in the Netherlands and U.K. have shut down the file-sharing site OiNK, following a raid of the company's offices in Middleborough, England. OiNK's servers, which reside in Amsterdam, were also taken. A 24-year old man was arrested and will most likely face severe criminal charges, and OiNK's users will now be forced to use one of the other 8,469,843 file-sharing websites.
If you go to OiNK's site, you get the following message:
This site has been closed as a result of a criminal investigation by IFPI, BPI, Cleveland Police and the Fiscal Investigation Unit of the Dutch Police (FIOD ECD) into suspected illegal music distribution.
A criminal investigation continues into the identities and activities of the site's users
Where OiNK really got itself into trouble -- more so than other file-sharing sites -- was by giving away pre-release copies of new albums. In 2007 alone, OiNK has offered sixty new albums before they were available in stores. These albums were subsequently forwarded around and ended up on many other websites.
The head of the IFPI (International Federation of the Phonographic Industry) explained to VH1:
OiNK was central to the illegal distribution of pre-release music online. This was not a case of friends sharing music for pleasure. This was a worldwide network that got hold of music they did not own the rights to and posted it online.
Authorities were quick to admit that the problem has not been solved, and that another company will likely move in and take the place of OiNK. Unfortunately, they couldn't comment any further, because they had to go out and catch all the rapists, murderers, thieves and arsonists that struck while the police force was busy snatching up servers and arresting kids for downloading the new Carrie Underwood CD. I'm just kidding. Listen, we all know file-sharing is illegal, just like we all know smoking is hazardous to our health, but it's not going to stop. If the "War on File-Sharing" continues, authorities will just alienate themselves from the public, until it gets to the point where Ice Cube is forced to make a movie where he runs a file-sharing website and the police unjustly harass him while a guy with a rifle walks right by.
Here are a few interesting facts...
-There are tons of bands (for example, O.A.R. and many indie bands) that wouldn't have blown up without the Internet and file-sharing.
-This year alone, I've bought at least 5 albums that I wouldn't have otherwise bought because I got to preview them online first (these previews were legal, of course). That's 5 more albums sold as a direct result of file-sharing.
-File-sharing has not stopped me from purchasing an album that I would've otherwise purchased. Not one. It has only allowed me to hear albums that I would've otherwise never bought or listened to.
Now, granted, I'm a big music fan, but who's to say that people downloading albums on OiNK would've otherwise paid for them? Maybe file-sharing could actually be a positive thing, but no one has figured out how to fully capitalize on it yet.
Just something to consider while you're stealing the new Britney Spears CD.
