Hungarian police have seized a cluster of high speed servers which were allegedly being used to illegally distribute free downloads of albums ahead of official release. The servers were owned by a Hungarian company called Sigmanet, and reps from the International Federation Of The Phonographic Industry and Hungary's anti-piracy body ProArt said that they have infiltrated the computers and observed mass copyright infringement.
Welcoming the seizing of the computers, the head of the IFPI's internet piracy division Jeremy Banks told reporters: "These raids are an excellent example of how the recording industry can work with law enforcement authorities to combat cybercrime. A new album sells the bulk of its copies in the first few weeks after its release. If the music it contains is leaked onto the internet prior to that it can have a devastating impact on sales. This is not a victimless crime - it can ruin an artist's career and it reduces the money available to invest in the next generation of talent".