I just want to start by saying that I’ve never used OiNK, I wasn’t a member, I’ve never downloaded music illegally, and piracy is bad. In fact, it’s a crime.

That said, I’m sad that OiNK.cd (formally .me.uk) is no more because (I’ve heard that) it was a really good torrent site. All sorts of rarities and random things could be found and it really did open people up to new music. It was nice while it lasted.

I don’t particularly want to get into the whole ‘is downloading music wrong’ thing, but generally, I don’t think it is. I genuinely believe that people still buy music that they like and want to support and only download things that they wouldn’t really buy anyway (which could then turn into something they like and end up buying). Personally, I’ve been put on to tonnes of music via downloading listening to my friend’s tape cassettes that I’d never would’ve listened to normally and have then gone on to buy/see live because of it. It sucks that something like OiNK, which really wasn’t the big evil crime syndicate that some people are portraying it as, has been subjected to what sounds like quite a heavy raid and shutdown. There are plenty of worse crimes that should warrant more attention before targeting file-sharing websites is deemed as a good use of police time.

Tis a shame. But let’s be honest, it’s not going to stop anything. Napster > AudioGalaxy > Kazaa > OiNK > ???. Fill in the gap with your favourite BitTorrent site.. There’s plenty to choose from.