Jump to content

BitTorrent Community OiNK’s Founder Cleared of Charges in UK Court


Faisal

Recommended Posts

In October 2007, Alan Ellis, the owner of the popular invite-only BitTorrent community OiNK.cd,was arrested in Middlesbrough, UK. The first person in the UK to be prosecuted for illegal file-sharing, Ellis was just found not guilty of conspiracy to defraud in a Teesside Crown Court.

When the IFPI raided OiNK more than two years ago, the case was unique not only because of its location (the UK), but because OiNK was always an invite-only community. You usually had to know someone to get an invitation, and there were very strict ratio requirements, as well as rules regarding quality of uploads.

A large part of the prosecution’s case against Ellis was that he had more than $300,000 in his PayPal account, as well as 10 other bank accounts with about ¬£20,000 spread across them. These funds were from donations that users could make to support server costs and other maintenance fees. Donations were not a requirement to join the site. Disclosure: I was a member of OiNK and made a donation, probably of ¬£25 or so at least once before it was shut-down.

Lots of major BitTorrent trackers were shut down in 2007, but the OiNK case was different not only because of its focus on a private community, but also because the founder was personally charged in court. Ellis’s argument, that OiNK didn’t actually host any of the music, was one echoed by The Pirate Bay owners in their trial, albeit with more pleasant results.

The Chief Superintendent for Cleveland Police told the Yorkshire Post:

“This has been a fair investigation. The jury has been presented with all the evidence and we abide by their decision.”

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...