British authorities confirmed that they have arrested five men and one woman for sharing music on the defunct P2P network OiNK. Apparently, these users had shared albums in advance of their release dates.
"Suspects were taken to their local police station for questioning and required to provide DNA samples and fingerprints," according to Torrent Freak, whose sources claim the charge is "Conspiracy to Defraud the Music Industry." Those arrested include five men between the ages of 19 and 33 and one 28-year-old woman, and the arrests were made on May 23 and 28.
Following the seizure of OiNK's site logs, users who shared files on the network – especially pre-release albums – have cause for concern. However, the legal team that is defending OiNK administrator Alan Ellis has offered free legal services for certain OiNK users who have been arrested as part of "Operation Ark Royal," an organized crime unit working in conjunction with the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) and the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) to track down those they claim profited from running the network.
The unit expects to recover "hundreds of thousands of pounds" from OiNK users.
See Also:
- Trent Reznor: OiNK Was Better Than ITunes
- Freed OiNK Admin Posts Google Link to Music Sharing Alternatives
- 'RIAA' Sends Warning to Users of Hacked OiNK Successor
(Screenshot of OiNK taken before it was shut down.)
