Chile shuts down first Direct Connect Hub

Santiago, 10th March 2008

IFPI Chile, with the support of Chilean police investigators, was able to identify and shut down a major Direct Connect Hub called ‘Metal Hub’. The hub was dedicated to the illegal distribution of music files, including full albums, and videos. One of the requirements for members to participate in the hub was that each user should have at least 1 GB of music files to share. IFPI Chile estimates the hub was operating with enough capacity from their participants to host up to 1.8 million songs.

Local internet and physical anti-piracy teams worked together to identify the hub’s location and owner. The hub owner and the ISP he was using received “cease and desist” letters informing them of the copyright infringements that resulted from their activity. With the advantage of having the identity and location of the operator revealed, the hub was down three days after these notifications were sent. The action was part of IFPI’s regional strategy to shut down all P2P servers in Latin America. There are currently other hubs under investigation in Chile.