BitTorrent Community Mourns as Tracker Founder Passes Away
Written by enigmax on May 13, 2008Last month, TorrentFreak had the pleasure of interviewing Merrin, the founder of the 150,000 member MVGroup tracker. It is with great sadness that we bring the news that after a long struggle against increasing health problems, Merrin has passed away, aged just 31.
During April, TorrentFreak interviewed Merrin after his site was shutdown in error following a blunder by an anti-piracy outfit. Despite this setback, Merrin appeared full of optimism for the future so it’s particularly sad that we hand over to ‘Eazbak’ from MVGroup to bring us tragic news:
“It is with a heavy heart that I write this, Merrin the founder of MVGroup.org passed away suddenly on Monday 5th May. He had been ill for sometime but the extent of his illness was not known to the staff , his family or his personal friends. His passing will leave an enormous void at MVGroup.
I was asked to write something here about Merrin, but to be honest I just can’t face it, the thought of doing so is just too painful. So I’ll simply add an abridged version of a post Merrin made at MVGroup some time long, long ago, it will give you a much better insight into who he was and what he was all about than anything I could have written.”
How did MVGroup start and what are our aims, hmm, perhaps a potted history is in order.
Summer 2001 was when I did my first rip, it wasn’t MVGroup back then it was just under my tag. Went well, was released onto the edonkey network with some success. It happened to be Walking With Beasts. I had been given the DVD’s as a present. I always made a point of watching what I could on BBC on tv, but realised after the reaction I got to my first release that there was very little of this kind of thing floating around on the net back then. Don’t get me wrong, I love ST or 24 as much as the next person but I knew that I wanted to give something back to the community that I had taken from for so long. The best way to do this seemed to be to me to release the things that I enjoyed, but couldn’t find, working on the principle that if I liked them there had to be more people out there that did too.
MVGroup was formed in about October of 2002. I talked DarkRain (Vittorio in those days, hence MVGroup, MVGroup also being a tag we had affected once or twice on game rips we had done) into helping me out with rips and supplying DVD’s, we were initially nothing more than a loose association releasing rips on FileNexus.
We then started to generate a bit of interest and we were given (alright I nagged the FN admins) our own section to call home on the FN forums.
Myself and DarkRain had drifted further apart both in real-life and online and MVGroup was looking like it was about to die from lack of time, interest, and releases. It was at this point that I, for want of something better to do, decided that maybe I would put some of our old releases out using the Bitttorrent protocol rather than ed2k. I quickly put a few releases out that way and generated some interest from the BT community. My interest re-piqued I realised that there was no way of releasing on BT using our sections on either FN or FTi that we had by now. The answer was our own webpage.
I got to work on a simple HTML based site on my ISP webspace, that was enough to relight DarkRain’s interest in MVG too and we started cranking releases out again on both BT and ed2k. Funnily enough it didn’t take long before my ISP were getting unhappy with a p2p site on their space. It was then that this current site started to evolve. I decided I better learn how to use proper website tools like php and sql db backends etc. The whole site was put together to a first usable state in about 24 hours straight by just myself lol, that was a day and a no mistake..
Then we started recruiting like-minded individuals that would help us to release and spread the material that we were now known for.
So, what are we trying to achieve, well it isn’t notoriety, it isn’t fame, it isn’t anything other than a sincere desire to make sure that as many people as possible have their horizons broadened by the quality material that we release.
After all we do have a tagline ‘An education in p2p’
….and it ain’t just there because it’s snappy.
So what of the future of the MVGroup tracker? m06166, a close friend of Merrin, explains: “There will be no closing down and no major changes are intended. We will not change the policy of MVGroup of sharing knowledge with the world without ratios for free. Ever.”
The final word from Eazbak: “Our mission now is to make sure that Merrin’s legacy continues, not just this year or the next but for as long as we can possibly do so, the staff is united, we have DVDs ready to rip, files ready to seed, watch out for an MVGroup tagged file on a tracker near you soon!”
Anyone wishing to pay their respects may do so here (registration needed, tracker signups open)
In memory of Merrin – 1976-2008
Previously: Best-Selling Author Turns Piracy into Profit
Next: Most Popular DVDrips on BitTorrent (wk19)
66 Responses
It’s just sad to see anyone that young pass away. I hope his family and friends can find a way to move on.
Well, MVGroup is a great website if you ever want documentaries. A suitable legacy I think.
Man its a bad day for sure for BT community someone so young and so committed to the purpose of p2p has just left us.
“May his soul rest in peace”
lets upload his death certificate to pirate bay in honor of him
:(
terrible news – my condolences
Tragic. MVgroup is great. Use it.
I’d just like to say thankyou to enigmax and the team here at TF for their offers of support.
As I said on the home forum we will be mourning his loss for some time to come, but there is no fitting tribute to Merrin than sharing knowledge…. and it is with that firmly in my mind I’ll now depart to add another torrent to our tracker!
Needs a little edit :p
“I was asked me to write”
Very, very sad :(
Rest in peace my friend.
So young!
That really sucks. Too young.
:(
Very sad indeed. My thoughts go out to his community, friends, and family.
What I find even worse is this follows an accident an admin on the torrent site I use(Torrentleech) where he was almost killed because he got hit by a taxi at 40 MPH while on his motorbike.
I have read the article then, but never took a look at it, now its in my bookmarks.
Too bad he died. And too bad that the “horizon broadened” people at MVGroup are too afraid of dissent or unpopular speech that they ban (non-spamming) posters in their forum. It’s really an educating experience.
John Doe, we’ve banned maybe 10 people in 5 years. We aren’t too afraid of either dissent or unpopular speech, in fact we have a section especially for it, one that is hardly moderated and has an extremely limited set of rules.
If you wish to feel free to email me at mr_eazbak at hotmail.com. I’ll look into the reasons you were banned and see if an error was made.
This is not the place to have this discussion.
r.i.p
“An education in p2p”…. Surely this guy was quite a noble and a visionary soul… May Lord bless his soul…
Sad, just a few years older than me… too young (if he was a p2p’er or not… just too young)
Never knowingly used any of their stuff but heard of MVG of course, at least he left back something that he started and that will coninue and he will be remembered by, guess some of the prayers from the bastards at the *IAA do get heard by the devil.
http://www.ezee.se/
Rest in peace, it is always sad to see a star stop shining.
Terrible, terrible news.
MVGroup – a fitting tribute…
My condolences. It’s really sad to have a person that young leave us.
R.I.P Merrin..
Terrible :(
RIP :(
Very sad indeed…
http://www.hack5.blogspot.com
MVGroup is a great site, i downloaded a lot of stuff from there.
RIP and thanks for what you did for p2p community.
Death is gay….
Although never heard of MVGroup before it is sad when somebody especially very important in certain community passes away.
“When a tiger dies he leaves his skin, when a man dies he leaves his reputation”
The second torrent I found took me to MVGroup 3 years ago and it’s been my ‘Home” site since.
The sense of community and co-operation there is without compare, in my experience.
It is truly Merrin’s vision realized.
R.I.P
[quote] Very sad indeed. My thoughts go out to his community, friends, and family.
What I find even worse is this follows an accident an admin on the torrent site I use(Torrentleech) where he was almost killed because he got hit by a taxi at 40 MPH while on his motorbike.[/quote]
…which followed Nuerher, the founder of VIPmusic, going MIA. He still hasn’t returned…
Passing away at age 32 just seems too young.
Even though i didn’t know you up until now, i hope you R.I.P. Merrin.
RIP
R.I.P
1.there´s nothing wrong with being dead,it´s like sleeping without dreams and nightmares.
2.i heard about the mvgroup when i read the interview last month,i registered right away and got the confirmation today and not 10 minutes later as is written on the website (so don´t be impatient if you register today).
3.it´s a very impressive piece of work and i´m looking forward to download many docus i saw there at first glance.
4.you can get access to all the files offered on the mvgroup site as well if you type ´mvgroup´ into the piratebay seaqrch window.
As someone who consciously “tasted” a moment of eternity in the hereafter, and have kept it as a living treasure within my being–and have not consciously forgotten about it–and from “where” I learned a lot about what LIFE is all about–I can guarantee to you that Merrin is at peace and very well and very much alive in the “Spirit Dimension”, just not in the physical world.
As long as the original ideals of Merrin continue in the MVRGroup, his memory and legacy will live among us. It would only become a terrible tragedy if the MVPGroup that Merrin built with great effort were to dissolve or become a different entity from the ideals from which it were initially built upon.
May the Life Force guide the continuers of the MVPGroup to continue its existence…
this is sad
R.I.P. Merrin
ignore the obvious trolls ppl.
after the server switch TF reported on earlier there were some issues with authentication e-mails; they weren’t being sent.
It’s fixed now, and alot of e-mails have been (re)sent to the new signups since. Sorry for the inconvenience.
R.I.P Merrin
RIP
Sad news :(
R.I.P Merrin.
Your legacy will always be seeded to 1:1 you will not be forgotten….
Life is brutal…
he sounded like a great guy, with great intentions.
RIP
My humblest condolences to this young man. Rest in peace friend.
so sorry
R.I.P Merrin, thanks for all the time and effort you put into the Mvgroup.
Never heard of MVgroup before. Guess I’ll check it out or something.
R.I.P Merrin, Long Live MVGroup a high qwality Educational torrent site.
member since 07
Rest in peace Brother.
What a smart guy faking his death. Is this fear of anti piracy lobbyists come to this?
As an old school mate of Merrin, it’s a comfort to see how much of a legacy he left here. Rest in peace my old friend.
i`m from romania and i`m verry sad to hear that merrin is dead , he waz a great man R.I.P. bro
MVGroup, I first heard here of it but always wanted to join such a good community… and now to hear that the creator of this wonderful idea passed away…
That’s really sad and clearly not the a worthy end for him, after all he realized what the web and the people need… no he really deserved better, to hear such a thing is really just tragic…
Why do the good souls nearly always die first, while being young and resourceful?
R.I.P. Merrin, may your new existence be better and last longer than this one…
MVGroup what a great site for a docu junky been there i think about 4 years
It’s sad to think he was a year younger than me
pretty sad stuff
Sleep deeply Merrin, you dreams will live on in your comrades and the community.
Rest in Eternal Peace, my friend.
You will be sorely missed.
MVGroup RULES!
A very special site.
Thank you Merrin,
R.I.P. brother.
MVG is one of the best p2p sites on the net — and i guess we have Merrin to thank for that
The death is the worst thing what can happen to the human…
My condolence :S
R.I.P
death is an excellent way for an anonymous operator with a background in criminal piracy to lose an identity and be reborn into the world of legitimate filesharing
wtg
I love mvgroup. Some of the best torrents on the internet. And not mindless garbage either.
RIP – I’m damn sure you’ll be missed.
MVGroup have been a life saver for home schooling my kids, brought us stuff we could never have got otherwise! Thanks.
rip
RIP
Your legacy will be seeded.
Massive respect!
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