Pitchfork

When OiNK-- some kind of torrent tracking network or something that we've certainly never used nor even heard of-- was shut down by police last fall, the following note briefly appeared on the site's former homepage: "A criminal investigation continues into the identities and activities of [OiNK's] users."

Turns out the warning was apparently warranted, as a series of recent reports on blog Torrent Freak [via Wired.com] indicates that six former OiNK users were arrested in late May by British authorities for sharing music via the website. They are currently out on bail.

The Cleveland Police (slogan: "Putting People First") confirmed the arrests to Torrent Freak; the six persons in question include five males and one female, all between the ages of 19 and 33. In each case, suspects were taken in, interrogated by police, and required to provide fingerprints and DNA samples. You know, just in case they left some skin cell residue on those, um, digital music files.

The arrests apparently took place as part of Operation Ark Royal, the ongoing investigation of a "massive piracy scam" (i.e. OiNK) undertaken by the Cleveland Police's Organized Crime Unit in conjunction with the RIAA-affiliated International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) and the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). These mark the first OiNK-related arrests since that of site founder Alan Ellis, whose legal team has reportedly offered free counsel to some of recent arrestees. (Torrent Freak reports that Ellis has yet to be charged with any crime.)

The six people arrested were all suspected of sharing albums prior to their release dates. Torrent Freak reports that "at least two of the arrests are for the alleged uploading of a single album."

The BPI shared the following statement with The Register:

The BPI and IFPI worked with the police in order to close down the OiNK tracker site last October. The illegal online distribution of music, particularly pre-release, is hugely damaging, and as OiNK was the biggest source for pre-releases at the time we moved to shut it down. We provided the information to assist this investigation, but this is now a police matter and we are unable to comment further at this stage.

Concerns are myriad at this point, ranging from how authorities can prove their cases using the easily manipulated user data seized during the initial OiNK raid, to why the police are involved at all in what some have suggested is merely a matter that calls for civil action, to, of course, whether the arrests will continue-- and, if so, who will be next.