Oink Shutdown

[Audio of Being]

As I was trying to access oink this morning, I got message stating that oink is down, and to check google news as to why.

 

Here is the link to the story:

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/tees/7057812.stm

 

EDIT: fixed link to story

Edited October 23, 2007 by Audio of Being

[soundless_space]

Maybe police have better things to worry about in my opinion. I myself am not a user, but that article is ridiculous.

 

"Users were only invited to join the site if they could prove that they had music to offer, according to an IFPI spokesman."

 

Well, duh.

[borntohula]

nooooooooooooo! this blows.

[Shiri]

The police is lame.

[LonelyWreckage]

;)

 

Not sure if we're fucked like. Doubt it, only the hardcores probably. Thing that interests me most is where the alleged owner's from - HERE! Never in a million years did I think OiNK was run by a bloke from a flat in Middlesbrough...the owner of TV-links was from Cheltenham too. Who else thought sites like these would be from America?

 

Anyways, seems they're finally starting to crack down, ey?

[borntohula]

yes and no. as much as i'll miss oink, it'll only be a few months before something else comes around that's either comparable, or better. that's the way it works. as you said, ordinary people are the ones who are orchestrating all of this 'illegal' activity.

 

10/23. never forget.

[Shiri]

Remember when they closed Napster? And Audiogalaxy?

[borntohula]

Remember when they closed Napster? And Audiogalaxy?

exactly.

[DudeLove721]

So anyone think they're going to go after users? I don't think they can process them all; I read somewhere that there are 180,000 people who have accounts on the site. I know there are people who have upped terrabytes of music so I'd tend to think the authorities will focus on those people and not the ones who put up 1-2 gb of stuff and minly used the site to leech... it's still legal to download and not upload right?

 

The technicalities of file sharing and the law often confuse me. Sharing in Canada is legel is it not? And Canadian ISPs don't usually give out personal info right? Also could a foreign agency prosecute someone in another country for sharing? Probably but I am just curious to know how it goes if anyone knows.

 

Edit: Just wanted to add that this sucks for those who actually buy albums even though they download from sites like these. I was impressed with Dala when they opened up for MG but my girlfriend and I would've never ordered their album if we hadn't been able to listen to it first. If the music is good and the artists are respected fans will support them.

Edited October 23, 2007 by DudeLove721

[Audio of Being]

In my case, the bands I download moe. and other jam bands, state that people are allowed to tape shows, and post them online, so that others can download them, and then trade shows back and forth. Sure I do download, but it was stuff I had owned before, and those things were either lost or stolen from me.

 

I really liked Oink, because I was able to get back the music I lost and loved the most.

[LonelyWreckage]

The technicalities of file sharing and the law often confuse me. Sharing in Canada is legel is it not? And Canadian ISPs don't usually give out personal info right? Also could a foreign agency prosecute someone in another country for sharing? Probably but I am just curious to know how it goes if anyone knows.

Sharing isn't legal in Canada, no. From what I've read: downloading's legal, but uploading only remains legal until you share it, then it's illegal.

 

As for the Napster example, fair point. I just always thought the crack down on piracy was a bit of a joke, owing to popular sites like OiNK & TV-Links being readily available. Now if they're to continue on at the same speed, who knows? Also, if it's conceivable that they can and do punish every user on there, wouldn't that be a disaster! I'd be put off ever downloading again, that's for certain - giving the big fuck off fine I'd likely recieve, not that you lucky Canadians have to worry. ;)

[Crusader]

 

rest in pieces.

[borntohula]

Sharing isn't legal in Canada, no. From what I've read: downloading's legal, but uploading only remains legal until you share it, then it's illegal.

 

As for the Napster example, fair point. I just always thought the crack down on piracy was a bit of a joke, owing to popular sites like OiNK & TV-Links being readily available. Now if they're to continue on at the same speed, who knows? Also, if it's conceivable that they can and do punish every user on there, wouldn't that be a disaster! I'd be put off ever downloading again, that's for certain - giving the big fuck off fine I'd likely recieve, not that you lucky Canadians have to worry. ;)

i think that people as important as mr. oink will be made examples of to the rest of us, however, i don't think that the smaller parties will have to worry about authorities ever coming after them. i think they use the examples as scare tactics, to discourage the free distribution of music, but a) it doesn't really work and b) they don't act on it. it's a vain attempt to stimulate an archaic form of commerce. they figure that by arresting people who break copyright, they will somehow bring money back into the recording industry, and that everything will be right as rain. meanwhile, they'll continue to distribute the highest form of shit known to man, and charge you a great deal of money for it. no way. they're just delaying the inevitable.

[Crusader]

spot on. downloading music is the future and radiohead's whole "pay what you want" is scaring them. i'm betting this is one of the reasons they've recently started "shutting down" trackers.

 

it's not going to help, i can see a botnet style tracker system coming into play soon. hey, if they can't stop spam, they can't stop downloading.

[Audio of Being]

The music industry for years has played what they want on radio, told bands what songs should sound like so that singles just get played on radio and MTV. There is really no freedom in music anymore, half of what is out there today all sounds the same, from emo bands, to nu metal bands.

 

But torrents, downloading music is just continue at a greater pace more than ever, with the average price being around $18-22 (US), and I am not sure how much an average CD costs in Canada, people will download, what Radiohead did is going to be the way of the future, and other bands like Pearl Jam will just do internet only releases on there own label. This is a wake up call to the music industry, to get on board, and get involved in the digital age.

[bishopx]

It only makes sense for downloading and more artist control to proliferate. The digital age has opened up a whole new world for bands who might not get the exposure they would via conventional means. Both my new band and the side project that came from it, will now have a chance to build an expandable fan base thanks to the web. The days of selling CDs out of the trunks of cars, and handing out free promo discs are over...now you can build a website and hand out a card with download key on it...it not only changes how you interact with fans, but it changes the financial aspects of it as well. It's cheaper to build a website and move your music through it, than it is to burn discs, and beg, borrow, and steal to get your music into the right hands.

 

Dan is absolutely right, this is a wake up call to the music industry to get on board with the digital age. If they do not, over time, more and more artists, who don't need the pampering and babysitting that the record companies provide, will go DIY. And the record industry fatcats will go the way of the 8 track, and vinyl, and audio cassette... The industry will no longer be driven by Execs, but by Producers and Artists with absolute control.

 

I'm a prime example... I went from a collection of over 2000 Audio cassettes, to about 500 CDs (Not counting Live recordings) I download and burn shows, And rather than replace the audio cassettes, I download MP3s...I have almost 12,000. I still purchase CDs...but now I only buy things I truly want, I don't just purchase CDs because I like a song anymore. I believe that I am an example of the most common music buyer...this example is the one that the industry needs to observe very closely, and cater to it...or they will grow extinct.

Edited October 24, 2007 by bishopx

[Ravenous megin-sane]

i don't see the death of oink as a bad thing

[Audio of Being]

Charles you are dead on with what you said, i remember when punk band MxPx did a poll for the CD Panic, and how most likely will you purchase it. Over 80% said they would but it online, and Pearl Jam, by moving to J Records, has more freedom and control over what they want the music to sound like. Pearl Jam and countless other bands, also record all live concerts so that we as fans can download them, and it is rather inexpensive, only $10 for mp3 files, $12-15 for FLAC (lossless) files. moe. and other jam bands do not get much radio, and the only I hear about those bands is in message boards similar to this one. iTunes makes millions of dollars by what they do, and it is about time that music execs look into the future, rather than the past.

[borntohula]

i don't see the death of oink as a bad thing

so you agree with what we're saying?

[hum-an-ole]

I was trying to watch some TVLinks last night and wondering why the site wasn't loading

[Ravenous megin-sane]

so you agree with what we're saying?

who's we?

[bishopx]

When change is driven via a revenue stream, it comes hard and fast. Only the obstinate try to outlast it, and that's what the record companies have been when it comes to the digital age.

 

The best path to change for them, is to bring in younger management, take long hard look at their customer demographics, and build websites and sell downloads, consistantly...they need to open the vaults to their back catologues....by offering both new music and old music, they can stem the steady bleedout they're enduring now...and maybe even revitalize their place in the music industry. They would appeal to the all of their customers by doing this, and by providing the artists with more control and incentives, they would draw customers who would normally bypass their distribution, and go to other sources such as napster, or non pay options like winmx, thereby cutting down on these ridiculous cases against 14 yr. olds for Piracy.

Edited October 24, 2007 by bishopx

[borntohula]

who's we?

the people. in the thread. it seems as though there's a consensus as far as the demise of oink is concerned. it sucks, because the massive quantity of good, pre-release music that was freely available, is now gone. at the same time, we recognize that it's only temporary and that stealing music will persist, so long as record companies continue to push utter crap for high prices, while paying artists little to nothing for their work.

[Audio of Being]

are there any sites that are similar to onik? it seems as one gets shutdown, 1 more pops up

[borntohula]

are there any sites that are similar to onik? it seems as one gets shutdown, 1 more pops up

not to my knowledge. oink seems to be the biggest. a site thats comparable in size, but doesn't require membership would be the pirate bay. and i mention it because it's an interesting case where they were told to shut down by authorities, they did, and apparently within a month or so, they were back up and running. so who knows what's in store for oink.