Oink was raided and his servers confiscated on 2007-Oct-23. I found this quote in memoriam on a cool metal torrent site that shall remain nameless: 


Yes, it provided a way to get free versions of widely available 

popular albums, but it also archived and cataloged the last 50 

years of music better than any other place on Earth. Many of which are

not readily available for purchase anywhere. It was an excellent record 

of one field of human achievement and now its gone ... How about the 

Clash's "Vanilla Tapes" that were lost on a subway train 30 years ago? 

It was on Oink, but not in stores. Just one of hundreds of examples. 

It was the digital music version of the burning of the Library at Alexandria.
In my mind, these raids highlight the absurdity of the record companies' position that data can be locked down. It's all just 1s and 0s, it's butt easy to copy, copying it does not deny access to it for someone else, and most importantly, it "wants" to be free. Data in general and music in particular is meant for the masses and the corporations cannot lord it over music fans without rendering the music unlistenable (given the recent spate of Britneys and Justins it seems they may be taking that route). The day will soon arrive when musicians get back to making their money the old fashioned way - by performing live - a full-body experience that cannot be digitized and shared online (yet). (Notice how I tacitly accepted the unfounded assertion by the RIAA that piracy hurts record sales. Lies are insidious.)

Oh, and here's some sanity to counteract the blatant falsehoods in the IFPI's press release: