It’s come to light that there’s a direct correlation between digital distributors receiving files before they’re available for sale and the dates in which these files get ‘leaked’ onto the various blogs, forums and sites. Quite often initially all sourced from the same three mirrored files.
So the question is ;
Are leaks directly sourced from within the distribution network?
If so, then who by ?
A few weeks ago I was given a url to look at. It was a root index of a site. You know, Index Of.. type thing. Only, it was a huge directory of folders with record label names. Inside each folder was several sub-folders of albums on that particular label.
The thing is, this was on a site paid for by Beggars which had lots of PIAS content. However, it turned out to be updated almost daily by a company who deals with digital downloads. you know, you buy an album and it has a download code…
Now what could be coincidence is that a few of the albums leaked the same day they were uploaded to that site.
One from Mogwai and the latest album from The Haxan Cloak which some nice person leaked to the world a full 40 odd days before it’s release. Now I’m not saying it was sourced from that site, but , you know, the dates fit.
The hole in that site has since been closed.
Whilst searching for dodgy copies of the Stebmo album for Invada, I discovered a pattern. Spot the difference ?
http://downloadcheapmp3.com/Stebmo/Stebmo/download
http://mp3seha.com/cheap/mp3/Stebmo/downloads
I have a feeling that this is the tip of the iceberg with these urls with more still to be found. They are all hosted by mchost.ru
There are a lot of less-than-reputable digital content providers out there.
Please DO NOT SHARE / LINK / UPLOAD anything either by the following artists or labels.
aka, the pokemon collectors club - they gotta have them all.
These are the people most responsible for disseminating mp3s and FLACs (insert format of choice in here) to either the alt.binaries.mp3 newsgroups, private ftp servers - yes, these do exist on a pay monthly subscription, torrents, p2p, blogs and scene release sites.
You’ll spot which files originate from these groups by the handy way that they put the group name in the filenames /id3 tags.
I’ve nicked the following info on them from one of their sites just so you’ll get the idea of what the music industry is up against.
From their own data, so far this year there have been 51241 mp3 scene releases. that’s 233 releases per day so far.
My name is [insert real name here] and I have been authorised to act on behalf
of [band name], c/o [record label] , [website] , to seek the removal
of their recorded works from various cyberlocker sites.
This letter is official notification under the provisions of Section
512(c) of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (”DMCA”) to demand
removal of the infringing materials. Please be advised that law
requires you, as a service provider, to “expeditiously remove or
disable access to” the infringing material upon receipt of this notice
and that the effect of noncompliance may result in your being liable
for secondary copyright infringement.
I have a good faith belief that use of the materials set forth below
and in the manner complained of here is not authorized by [insert name of copyright holder / artist / label], the copyright holder, or by the law. The information provided
here is accurate to the best of my knowledge. I swear under penalty of
perjury that I am the copyright holder.
My current contact information is included below next to my signature
and please send me a prompt response indicating the actions you have
taken to resolve this matter.
Sincerely,
/s/[real name], [real address], [post code]. | [telephone number] |
email: [name] [at] [domain]
List and location of infringing materials:
The website : [url of offending website that, most likely, uploaded
the file and who is almost certainly making more money out of it than
the artist]
has uploaded “[title of album or single]” by [artist name] – for
FREE download.
This is not, nor will ever be, authorised by [label name]. This has just
been released for sale and can be purchased in physical form as well
as downloaded LEGALLY from most reputable digital music retailers, as
mentioned here on our website:
[url of preferred online retailer]
The user at the url of
[offending website url] has uploaded files for download that they DO
NOT have the authority, nor permission to do so.
They do so knowingly and repeatedly.
The following url is for the illegal .rar/.zip/.7z archive located on your
site:
[location of offending file on the cyberlocker site you are sending
the notice to]
© Me.
