A 33-year-old man has been arrested in the U.K. in connection with a group leaking pre-release music on P2P file-sharing networks.
He was arrested in Portsmouth following a joint enquiry by trade body the BPI and IFPI, in conjunction with the City of London Police and the Intellectual Property Office. It is understood the man was released on bail following the June 16 arrest while the investigation continues.
The BPI claims that DV8 are believed responsible for leaking in excess of 2,500 titles, including content from both major and independent labels. The investigation has so far involved the recovery of a substantial quantity of promotional CDs, as well as computer equipment including an active FTP server and client and software used in connection with ripping and digitizing content.
“This successful operation sends a clear message – we are serious about tackling the problem of Intellectual Property theft,” said David Lammy, minister of state for Intellectual Property, in a statement. “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.”
The BPI has taken targeted action against pre-release leaks, which it considers one of the most damaging forms of Internet piracy, as it disrupts marketing and promotional campaigns as well as depriving rights holders of their rewards.
David Wood, director of anti-piracy at the BPI, commented: “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, added: “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 they pick up news of the arrest.”
