p2pnet - rss feed: Audiomaxxx.com King Raj on CRIA bust
p2pnet news | P2P:- Depending on who you talk to online, Winnipeg music site owner Raj Ramgotra is either the devil incarnate or the answer to every reggae-lovers’ prayers.
He used to run audiomaxxx.com which, “made its name selling reggae and house-mix CDs and a large catalogue of porn flicks for between US$3 and $6 a pop,” said the Winnipeg Sun in March.
Then he caught the eye of the CRIA (Canadian Recording Industry Association), the poor cousin of Vivendi Universal, EMI, Warner Music and Sony BMG’s RIAA in Canada.
The Big 4’s so-called ‘trade’ organisation claimed it’d been “investigating” the site for a year, eventually deciding it’d unearthed a major music counterfeiting operation in Winnipeg.
It subsequently announced to the world that, after a big-time raid, four villains had been arrested and charges filed.
When we posted our first story on the incident, “we thought it was an example of Warner Music, EMI, Vivendi Universal and Sony BMG successfully nailing a genuine counterfeiting crook instead of going after their own customers, whom they’re calling file sharing thieves and criminals,” we said.
But we were dead wrong.
The Big Time CRIA triumph turned out to be a Big Time screw-up.
No one was charged with anything and Ramgotra is presently free and expecting to go to court on May 26 to discover what, if any, charges are to be laid against him.
One wonders who did the investigating. Was discredited RIAA ‘investigator’ MediaSentry involved?
Whoever it was, there’s a better-than-even chance CRIA president Graham Henderson was the man who contacted the police and convinced them they needed to do a little more than to simply go to Ramgotra’s house, show him the ‘evidence,’ escort him to the local cop shop, if they felt it was necessary, and then decide what, if any, further action was called for.
Instead, it was like something out of Miami Vice.
The first Ramgotra knew anything was wrong was when he heard someone hammering on his door.
“There were 10 to 20 police officers ready with guns in their hands,” he told p2pnet. “They had battering rams and everything.
“The building was surrounded and there were police all over the place, in the parking lot and everywhere.”
Ramgotra was arrested. But not for long. He was soon released with a promise to appear in court on May 26.
And just like in real Mafia-type busts where the villains are expected to try to flee the country at the first opportunity, his passport was confiscated.
At absolute worst, if Ramgotra is found guilty of anything, it’ll be copyright infrigement, not murder
Before this happened, I hadn’t heard of audiomaxx and Ramgotra hadn’t heard of p2pnet. But audiomaxxx.com now kicks over to the p2pnet story on the CRIA farce.
Is King Raj guilty as charged, or is he yet another victim of the Big 4’s determination to use any means possible to gain control of how and by whom music is distributed online?
But whatever the answer, never was it necessary to approach Ramgotra mob-handed and with guns drawn and, presumably, cocked.
Vivendi Universal, EMI, Warner Music and Sony BMG have turned a simple civil commercial offence into major crime and it was an extreme example of gross overkill, a specialty of the Big 4 and their many and various alphabet organisations.
What’ll happen to Ramgotra?
Will the CRIA apologise to him and those close to him for having them subjected to the kind of treatment normally reserved for hard-core criminals?
Stay tuned, but don’t hold your breath.
Jon Newton - p2pnet
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May 14th, 2008 at 6:33 pm
The police were probably told it was a major piracy operation and were champing at the bit with the prospect of their first piracy bust.
It seems now that it’s a legal music site? He will get no compensation I’d say and certainly no apology from anyone, as they were “just doing their job”. >:-[
May 14th, 2008 at 9:52 pm
Babylon Bun Dungggggggggggg
May 15th, 2008 at 3:35 pm
They’ll get SUED. That’s what’ll happen..
Hurry up and brind di site bak up raj!
May 16th, 2008 at 7:58 am
wha gwaan bomboclatt bun bloodclatt babylon down dis was a wicked site
May 16th, 2008 at 8:24 am
fight them to de death rajj audiomaxx a de best
May 16th, 2008 at 11:09 am
a wah di fuck ,..RAJJJJ DONT TAKE DAT SHIT WE MISS AUDIOMAXX
May 16th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
King Raj was giving the people the mixed cds that we enjoy. Hope everything run good for Raj on the 26, We support King Raj to the fullest, hope to see audiomaxx up soon. peace from Bx,NY
May 16th, 2008 at 4:34 pm
fuck rag and his thieving self he is the only man to blame for the fall of jamaican music producers making money.if i was not clear first let me say it again FUCK AUDIOMAXXX AND ITS OWNER.im very happy his site is done. hopefully on may 26th he will site in jail for sometime.
May 17th, 2008 at 10:10 am
Bey wa type syke dat is bun up da man dem hurry up wit da ting I need my tunes.
July 6th, 2008 at 8:18 am
The things on audiomaxxx did not belong to any major record labels. Giving props to the underground and DJ’s world wide is not a crime and know one should be punished because someone else was smart enough to take it to the next level. So Do You and Us King Raj get the site bac up on trac RESPECT!
UNDERGROUND 4 EVA NEW JERSEY U.S.A
July 7th, 2008 at 6:29 am
Hope things went well for King Raj on the 26th. Cannot wait till his site is back up. Need more new tunes.