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This article is more than 1 year old

'Dancing Jesus' file-sharer found guilty

'Trix' unmasked as Leicestershire man

A man who shared thousands of links to songs on a music leaks site has pleaded guilty to illegal distribution of copyrighted works at Newcastle Crown Court.

The "Dancing Jesus" forum (it’s a Simpsons reference) was operated from North Shields by Kane Robinson, with servers in Dallas, and specialised in links to pre-release tracks – songs that had been recorded but were not yet commercially available. The links were posted to cyberlockers such as Rapidshare, Filesonic and Mediafire.

Dancing Jesus logo

The prosecution was brought by music trade group the BPI in co-operation with Leicestershire Police and the City of London Police. Homeland Security officials seized the servers in Texas in September 2011 when Robinson and an uploader using the handle "Trix" were arrested. Robinson has already been found guilty, and Trix turned out to be one Richard Graham from Leicestershire. He was found guilty of distribution under the 1988 Copyright Act.

Sentencing is scheduled for 10 November. ®

Comment

Quite coincidentally, TV pirate site SurfTheChannel was operated from nearby Gateshead, while Torrent site Oink was operated from Middlesbrough, confirming the North East’s leading reputation in ropey piracy sites. Maybe it could wangle itself a digital innovation catapult, or "leechpad"?

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