Police bust illegal file-sharing site

Hungarian police yesterday (March 18) conducted raids on two 'topsites' specialising in the illegal distribution of music.

In the raids police seized a total of eight terabytes worth of copyright infringing material from Hungarian company Sigmanet after facilitating the distribution of music against the law before its official release.

Commenting on the seizures Jeremy Banks, Head of the Internet Anti-Piracy Unit said: "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."