The Recording Industry Assn. of America said that the FBI has seized the domain of file-sharing service ShareBeast, shutting down what it said was responsible for the pre-release leaks of thousands of songs.
A domain seizure notice appeared on the Sharebeast.com domain, saying it had been seized by the FBI pursuant to a seizure warrant related to suspect criminal copyright infringement. Another site, albumjams.com, also has the notice on its site.
The RIAA said that it reported takedown requests to the service for more than 100,000 infringing files.
In a statement, RIAA CEO Cary Sherman called the seizure “a huge win for the music community and legitimate music services. ShareBeast operated with flagrant disregard for the rights of artists and labels while undermining the legal marketplace.”
Messages have appeared in social media in recent days complaining that the ShareBeast sites were inoperable or commenting on the seizure notice.
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A representative from the Department of Justice could not immediately be reached.
