OiNK torrent tracker shut down in police raid

The record industry is celebrating a victory in its fight against piracy today, after a two-year investigation by the International Federation of Phonogram and Videogram Producers (IFPI) – which is the equivalent of the RIAA and MPAA – led to the raid and shut down of OiNK.cd, reportedly the world’s biggest source for illegal pre-release pirated music.

The invitation-only music torrent site, with around 180,000 registered members, had gained a reputation as a major source of new music, leaking 60 major albums before their release in 2007. But despite its exclusive members-only status, within a few hours of a popular album being posted on OiNK, inevitably it would find its way onto other websites.

The operation resulted in the arrest of the site’s 24-year-old administrator under suspicion of conspiracy to defraud and infringement of copyright law, and the seizure of the website's servers in Amsterdam.