Music tracker shutdown misguided

Last week, OiNK, one of the most popular music torrent trackers, had its servers raided by the police and was subsequently shut down. The administrator of the members-only site was arrested at his workplace and law enforcement stormed into his father's home.

The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) and the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) had been investigating the site for nearly two years before its shut down. When the police were pushed for a reason for targeting the site, a spokesman cited that OiNK was an "extremely lucrative" business for the administrator and was key in distribution of prerelease albums, with the estimate being 60 or more per year. The site was replaced with a message detailing the investigation of the owner, also stating that all members were under criminal investigation.

Though it does seem like just another day in the music industry's war on piracy, it was an especially sad and scary day for music lovers. Up to that point, only individual users and public torrent sites had been attacked by the RIAA, the MPAA and the other groups. And just like most of the other music sharing programs/sites that were shut down, OiNK survived on the administrator's own dime and donations. He was, after all, arrested at his work place and not in some mansion sipping wine. With the shutdown of OiNK, it became clear that no site was truly safe from the watchful eye of these organizations.

The site recorded around 180,000 users before its shutdown. Despite its large size, the community thrived because its users' top priority was always to share music. It was a place where people went to download some of the least accessible and highest quality music in the world.

The site did not have DRM on their files, unlike iTunes and company. Furthermore, the site mandated that the quality of the music was always at a high level. The new Radiohead album was restricted from being uploaded there because it was below their strict standards. Users were punished when they uploaded incomplete or poor quality albums, sometimes getting banned from the site.

While this may seem a little extreme and even excessive to those unfamiliar with the site, it was the reason why many of the users continued to use OiNK. It ensured that the quality of the music was not being compromised when it was shared with others and that even the artists were not hurt from a poor recording of the music.

But the scope of the shutdown goes beyond just its members; the site's shutdown also hurt artists. Sure, Justin Timberlake, Kanye West and other mainstream acts are not exactly crying with the death of the site, but they are in the minority. Most artists have neither the resources nor the label support to have constant radio play, worldwide tours and merchandising afforded to the bigger names. Instead, they rely on word-of-mouth, hoping that the quality of their music will be enough to get them to the top.

Sites like OiNK provided a great outlet for these lesser-known groups. The site had arguably the largest library of music on the internet. Bands that sold CDs out of the trunks of their cars after shows on their lawn could log on and find a rip of their CD available for download. Often, the question was not what was on the site, but what was not.

The site was by no means perfect. It was, after all, a place where one could illegally download music. While many artists were helped by the exposure they received, others could have easily suffered from the decrease in record sales. Numerous users claimed to have purchased the CD after they listened to it and liked it, but it is likely that just as many, if not more users never had the intention of spending any money. There is no way to defend the morality of stealing, which OiNK freely and openly allowed. It was, like most torrent trackers, another place for people to download whatever they wanted.

But labeling OiNK "just another music site" would be incorrect. The music industry destroyed the equivalent of the Library of Alexandria of music. The music may still exist today, sure, but it may become impossible to find some records without calling artists directly and asking for a copy. In its unending quest to stop the internet from basically being the internet, record companies have decided to take down sites that were even mild threats.

The recording industry has resorted to instilling fear in everyone in order for them to stop downloading and start buying music. They are delusional to think that shutting down a site on the internet will lead directly to sales. Is it possible that they will have each user investigated? Yes, anything is possible. But is it likely? Absolutely not. If the record industry decides to spend its resources to pursue a group that spans five continents, it would certainly go the way of OiNK (which, now that I think about it, would be awesome).

Of course, as proven by Napster, Morpheus, Suprnova and even Kazaa, when one outlet disappears, another one will always take its place. Still, there is little chance that a following as large as OiNK's will ever be seen again. Other sites have already started to emulate what OiNK had, but the site thrived on its users and their willingness to upload anything and everything, something that will not be easily replicated elsewhere. The recording industry will continue its pointless crusade and take a couple more good sites down with it, inevitably losing sight of its main goal: helping artists and encouraging people to listen to their music.