The group, DV8, has been cited in leaking 2500 albums before their retail street date. The IFPI investigation has already netted "a substantial quantity of promotional CDs, and computer equipment including an active FTP server and client and software used in connection with ripping and digitizing content."
Of late, the media trade groups have been targeting pre-release uploaders, as they find those leaks to be the most "damaging" for the labels and the artists.
David Lammy MP, Minister of State for Intellectual Property, added: "This successful operation sends a clear message - we are serious about tackling the problem of Intellectual Property theft. This is an example of partnership working between the Intellectual Property Office and the BPI and IFPI. It clearly shows the added value that our work is bringing to the wider enforcement community. I want to ensure that consumers, legitimate businesses and their employees are protected from those that choose to break the law."
David Wood, Director of Anti-Piracy at the BPI, noted: "Although the investigation continues, even at this early stage we believe that a full forensic examination of the equipment recovered will yield a lot of useful evidence and intelligence about the 'scene' and the criminal activities of those involved in pre-release music uploading."
Jeremy Banks, Head of IFPI's Internet Anti-Piracy Unit concluded: "This police action has led to the disruption of two notorious release groups that were responsible for leaking high-profile releases onto the internet. We are also currently observing a significant drop in activity from other release groups as they pick up news of the arrest."
Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 24 Jun 2009 3:05
