Two years ago, the American authorities seized the domain names of Sharebeast regarding copyright infringement of the distribution of music. The operator of Sharebeast, Artur Sargsyan has now pleaded guilty and charged with criminal copyright infringement.
It was found by the Recording Industry Association of America that Sharebeast was responsible for the distribution of a massive library of popular albums and tracks and has been particularly problematic in its distribution of pre-release leaks of thousands of songs. This lead to the US Attorney office finding that “through Sharebeast and other related sites, this defendant profited by illegally distributing copyrighted music and albums on a massive scale. The collective work of the FBI and our international law enforcement partners have shut down the Sharebeast websites and prevented further economic losses by scores of musicians and artists”.
The FBI have also come forward saying “This is another example of how the FBI and its international law enforcement partners, working together, make it difficult for criminals to profit from illegal activities on the internet. Illegally making money off the talent of hard working artists will not go unpunished thanks to the dedication and hard work of our FBI agents”.
Brad Buckles who is the piracy boss of the Recording Industry Association of America said “Sharebeast and its related sites represented the most popular network of infringing music sites operated out of the United States. The network was responsible for providing millions of downloads of popular music files including unauthorised pre-release albums and tracks. This illicit activity was a gut-punch to music creators who were paid nothing by the service.”
It is clear that the music industry isn’t completely safe from pirates, but this case shows that the authorities are making a real effort to limit the amount of music being illegally distributed across the internet.
