DJ /rupture, who runs Soot Records, has commented on the Oink attack, where he was both a user and a "victim" ("I searched for 'DJ Rupture' and found every release I'd ever done, from an obscure 7″ on a Swedish label to 320kpbs rips of my first 12″, self-released back in 1999. It was shocking. And reassuring."). He says:
Oink was not "extremely lucrative" as the BBC boldfacedly claims. If I remember correctly, a one-time donation of 5 pounds would do something-or-other, but it was a far cry from Soulseek's monthly privilege fees. Nor, for the record, did Oink "lead to early mixes and unfinished versions of artists' recordings circulating on the internet months ahead of the release." -- this is strangely ironic, since Oink would strip user privileges if they were caught circulating unfinished or unofficial album versions. This was a site run by audiophiles and music obsessives!
He also comments on the fact that Soulseek hasn't been close down in spite of offering paid subscriptions:
One thing I don't understand is how Oink got taken down while Soulseek continues as it has for years... Slsk has always struck me as the least moral of the p2p systems. If you pay Soulseek $5 a month, you get 'privileged download access' to files stored on Slsk users hard drives. Soulseek earns money by controlling access to the files stored on its users' drives, users who never see any of this money.
One possible answer is that Soulseek's home page says: "Soulseek(tm) does not endorse nor condone the sharing of copyrighted materials. You should only share and download files which you are legally allowed to or have otherwise received permission to share." It also puts out unsigned bands on Soulseek Records.
Also see: Time to clear up the murk about Oink Another raid, another arrest -- OiNK Torrent tracker closed (updated)
