Download site founder prosecuted

A man who allegedly made up to £188,000 is being prosecuted for running a member only file-sharing website.

Alan Ellis’s website Oink was made for the purpose of “pointing” members to places in which to illegally download files. This led to an estimated 21million downloads, with a membership of 200,000 people. The site worked on an invitation only basis with members paying £5.00 per friend they proposed to join.

The website was hosted abroad, being shut down in October 2007 after police raided the server premises in Amsterdam. Mr Ellis denies the charges of conspiracy to defraud.

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