Hungarian police took action yesterday against two ‘topsites’ specialising in the illegal distribution of music on the internet before it is legitimately available for sale online.
The topsites are clusters of high-speed computer servers on which copyright infringing music is uploaded for users involved in “release groups” to distribute further over the internet.
The clusters of servers seized by the police today were called XXS and Z and contained a total of eight terabytes of copyright infringing content that was distributed by several release groups, notably XXL and RAGEMP3. The servers were all hosted by a Hungarian company called Sigmanet.
All topsites operate under high security, but technical experts from IFPI, which represents the recording industry worldwide, and ProArt, the Hungarian anti-piracy organisation, were able to infiltrate these servers, gather proof of infringement and provide the Hungarian authorities with the evidence they require to take action against said sites.
Jeremy Banks, Head of IFPI’s Internet Anti-Piracy Unit, says: “These raids are an excellent example of how the recording industry can work with law enforcement authorities to combat cybercrime.
“A new album sells the bulk of its copies in the first few weeks after its release. If the music it contains is leaked onto the internet prior to that it can have a devastating impact on sales. This is not a victimless crime – it can ruin an artist’s career and it reduces the money available to invest in the next generation of talent.”
