Prague - The Czech police, working with record label trade group the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), have shut down a computer server at the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic that hosted what they said was one of the largest collections of pre-release music in the world.

The server housed 4 terabytes of data and was the home of a "topsite" called Blind Alley, a distribution hub used by groups with names like AG, CaF, iTWINS and SWE6RUS that specialize in posting pre-release music and other media.

The police raid followed an investigation by local and international anti-piracy experts from IFPI, who made a criminal complaint that was acted on within 10 days.

While the Academy of Sciences is funded by the Czech government, the server in question was apparently owned by a private group, and rented out to the piracy group without its knowledge.

The actions taken in the Czech Republic follow IFPI-led crackdowns on topsites including OiNK in the U.K. and Demonoid in Canada.

"Pre-release music piracy hurts artists, composers and producers who have spent months working to make an album," said Jeremy Banks, head of the IFPI's Internet anti-piracy unit.

"We are working to identify the 'topsites' that are being used to post pre-release music illegally onto the internet and secure the closure of the servers that power them."

Related Links:
http://www.ifpi.org/content/section_news/20080423.html

http://snipurl.com/25njr (Ars Technica)