The first prosecution in the UK of a person charged with illegal peer-to-peer file-sharing has ended with a not guilty verdict. The man ran an unauthorised music-sharing web site called Oink from his home in the North East. The site allowed members to other people on the web to share their files. From its launch in 2004 until police closed it down in 2007, over 20 million music files were shared. Users had to make a donation to the site so that they could invite friends to become members too. The site operator had received at least £10,000 a month in donations. However, the site operator was found not guilty of the offence of conspiracy to defraud by Teesside Crown Court.