Police shut down major Italian music file-sharing forum

London, 1st July 2008

Four alleged operators of a popular copyright-infringing music forum face heavy fines and potential prison sentences after Italian police shut down the site and seized servers and thousands of illegal files and discs.

Downrevolution.net was one of the biggest forum sites in Italy, providing links which 30,000 registered subscribers used to illegally swap music and film. Content was being made available via known locker services such as Rapidshare.com and megaupload.com, which resulted in some half a million downloads.

IFPI today welcomed the announcement of the closure of the investigation, which was conducted by the Fiscal Police of Milan and co-ordinated by the Public Prosecutor from Lodi.  Jeremy Banks, IFPI’s Head of Internet Anti-Piracy Unit, said: “This shows a real commitment by the authorities to stopping online copyright theft, and it also highlights that forums like these are anything but immune from the law.” The operation against the site was carried out last month, with technical assistance from IFPI-affiliated Italian anti-piracy group FPM.

The four people believed to be the operators of the site, which was founded in 2007 and was also earning revenues from banner advertising, have been prosecuted for violating the Italian copyright law.  They face potential imprisonment of up to three years, a fine of 15,000 euros and administrative sanctions running into hundreds of thousands of euros.