TorrentFreak

The place where breaking news, BitTorrent and copyright collide

Kids Detained By Police On Suspicion of Running Torrent Sites

As part of an investigation running for more than a year, police in Iceland have been trying to track down individuals who run file-sharing sites and those who added large amounts of content to them. This week, teenagers as young as 15 had quite a surprise when police raided several locations across the country.

Following complaints from rightsholders, this week an investigation run by Icelandic police culminated in raids against suspected BitTorrent site operators and individuals suspected of being prolific uploaders of content.

In total, 9 houses were targeted and searched. In the capital Reykjavík, 3 people were arrested. Another 7 were arrested in the port city of Akureyri in the north of the country. Computer equipment was confiscated along with cellphones which according to sources close to the investigation were already being monitored. Police also seized 80g of marijuana.

While the oldest person arrested is 20 years old, others are as young as 15. The youngest of those detained complained that since they are doing school tests this week, that would be hindered without their computers. Some appear to have complied with police interrogations and have been let go, but others have been more stubborn.

“The cops also held ‘Mr. IceFox’, the owner of Rtorrent.net, in jail for 28 hours or even more,” a source told TorrentFreak, adding: “He was given no food, he only got water!”

It is believed that police were looking for operators and major uploaders at four other trackers including icebits.net, isparty.org, icebay.net and kreppa.org. Of these, only Icebay continues to operate. Although reports suggest that a staffer from Icebay was arrested on Wednesday afternoon, the site deny this, but admit that due to the current climate the individual has resigned.

News of the police activity quickly spread and several other torrent sites went down as a precaution.

Icebits.net previously had problems with their hosting provider back in October and isparty.org had also suffered downtime. In November, Isparty announced that they would be back online on December 1st and being run by one of their original founders and assisted by three of the founders of Icebits. Ominously the announcement noted that the site would in future be hosted on a “foreign server which is very safe.”

By December 2nd, two days after the raids, three senior staffers at Isparty – TerraNova, Chrome and Intel – announced their permanent retirement and closure of the site.

Earlier this year, the Icelandic torrent site Istorrent.is finally lost their 3 year copyright battle with a coalition of anti-piracy organizations and were forced to close down.

Related Posts

Previous Post | Next Post

  • Pingback: Kids Detained By Police On Suspicion of Running Torrent Sites - Torrent Invites - Get your free private torrent tracker invites!

  • nevermind

    they are really freak!

  • Mike

    Iceland is rule by turks!

  • xxx

    How come? Is there be no law to protect these people?

  • Anon

    Good job cops. Keep up the good word.

  • Caller of Doom

    Why do I feel the need to say: “I told you so”?

    The paranoia has hit a new high with the arrest of 15 yo kids!

    The entertainment industry has nothing left to learn from the 3rd Reich! Hopefully, like the Nazis, they won’t last 1000 years and get smashed and destroyed very soon!

  • jovialau

    @3 When sums of money or threats are involved.Laws tend to be overlooked.Do you not read the news at all?

  • Brandon

    Mafariaa is now so desperate they are now going after children, students, senior citizens and dead people in they last ditch effort to support their failing obsolete dvd dinosaur model. I suppose they will be going after disabled and crippled peoples ssi checks…

  • Anon

    Cops doing their job by nabbing criminals. Whats the big issue here?

  • Iceholes

    Another puppet state at its best…

    As the Wikileaks cables shown with Spain and who wrote their copywrite laws coming up for vote soon..

    Good luck with arresting kids to stop the unstoppable..

    LOL

  • Pingback: Tweets that mention Kids Detained By Police On Suspicion of Running Torrent Sites | TorrentFreak -- Topsy.com

  • CHUPA

    Man, this is bogus…

    80g of weed, gone in an instant. Kids need to learn better stash spots.

  • What the

    And here I was, thinking Iceland was the last free state in the world worth living in…evidently, I was wrong.

  • okokok

    Pretty soon it will be illegal to own a computer in Iceland other than the government distributed Tandy® computers with a free pre-loaded copy of Oregon Trail which will be seen as compensation for the confiscation of all MP3 players, DVD burners & Home computer systems.

  • Drag0nflamez

    28 hours with only water, no food, probably just some underage child.. That’s a violation of the International Rights of Children (or something like that). i feel like starting a bittorrent site – and if they do that on me i will personally sue them…

  • POng Peets

    LOL, its obvious the stupid cops there have a sudden shortage of REAL crime to deal with!

    privacy-resources.edu.tc

  • Caller of Doom

    Funny how all those countries go out of their way to protect mostly American movie studios and American recording industry.

    I am not sure but I think most of the pressure comes from the USA like we saw in Spain with their upcoming American written copyright law.

    I read comments on the Tea Party website where some ppl said that file sharing is against God and is them a sin against the heaven. I also read editorials where ppl said that file sharers will end up in hell…

    Wow, God this, sin that, hell this, devil that… I can’t believe that in 2011 some people still believe in God! Religions were invented in order to explain stuff that looked mysterious to our stone age ancestors! That was before modern science started explaining the same stuff but using a scientific protocol instead of mythology and magic.

    A country like the USA is ruled by God: “In God we trust”, “God bless America”… So I am not surprised to see how the USA might feel they need to impose their views on the rest of the world, since, after all, their mission is THE WILL OF GOD!

    So do not expect a sensible and reasonable resolution of the copyright issues when your opponent believes in magic, virgin births, resurrection and consider itself as a soldier of God.

  • yum

    Good job cops, keep it up, only few tens millions to go and couple ten thousands jail to build for criminals. Hey, arsehats we can jail all how we want.

  • Anonymous

    @15 watch Roman Empire Rules Today and it will explain most of it. Google video has it on there…

  • Toasty

    Keep that stupid religious discussion off from a article to which it has nothing to do with. I know you got it off from some site, but you’ve sneaked it so it extends into more than it should.

    What is it with you people who take the time of day to write something that has nothing to do with the topic/article itself? And it’s mostly religion. Everyone is trying to not care about it but with you people running around, people are constantly reminded of it.

    Take your stupid shit, and go debate it over christian boards or something. Ever think of that? I’m sure they’ll be more than willing to counter-argue with everything you’ve got to say to them.

  • aspER

    Opression on innocent people will certainly bring a revolution on greater scale then just DDoS attack .

  • Anoynmous

    Iceland, you need your own bright people to stick with you more than you need friendship from America.

  • Taker

    Now we know why Iceland crashed and Eyjafjalla was angry.

    Pot should be smoked not kept.

  • Caller of Doom

    #18

    Since you have apparently missed my point, allow me to clarify:

    My point was that with unreasonable people, a proper discussion over copyright issues is impossible. Furthermore, the excessive pursuit of file sharers, to the point where kids end up in jail, is proof that at least one party involved in this debate has renounced critical thinking in favor of dogmas, in the style of: “We are always right”, “Our fight is richest” and “The end justify the means”.

    How many more young lives will be stigmatized by what amounts to a civil affair before we stop putting kids in jail?

    Jail should be reserved for violent offenders, not file sharers.

  • General Snus

    I’d imagine one of USA’s biggest exports is entertainment (movies and music). So I can understand why they want to protect it, whether I agree or not. I mean these days USA buys all their crap from China. Although there is R&D/development, they typically outsource all their actual work and manufacturing overseas, etc. Hardly anything is ‘made in the usa’ – besides music/movies!

  • 133t

    u gotta be joking me in frigging iceland :O it must be – 50 or -60 there right now and they arrest 15 yr old kids , this is retarded

  • Anonymous

    Drag0nflamez has the right idea. The best retaliation against this bullshit is to share harder, get a seedbox, or start your own torrent site.

    The goal of these police raids is to suppress filesharing. So make sure it flourishes more than ever.

  • Anoynmous

    @ 23 Another thing being exported is insidious legislation.

  • LOL

    damn theres alot of torrent sites

  • Daniel

    They thought it was fun to brake the law, and typical when the law came a knock en they folded

  • hotdog

    @28 You sound like a socialist puppet.
    Atleast learn how to type break instead of brake.

  • Richard

    Hey, nothing wrong with Oregon Trail. I wasted so much of my youth on that game.

    I’m glad to see 15 can see into the future. TorrentFreak should hire him/her so they can the ones to break all the news stories.

    But seriously, it does worry me how much countries are bending over backwards to please America. What happened to the good old days of solidarity through a common enemy?

  • hotdog

    @28
    who paid you to say that?

  • Phoenix

    how could you possibly detain teens you maniacs !
    what the hell are children rights groups doing !!!

  • Scene-r

    Since when running a BT site is illegal? They can’t do shit about it but only if you got money to throw them in courts.

  • Maroan

    One should think that the police in Iceland had something better to do than complying with the MAFIAA… tsss-tsss…. Pathetic…

  • badz0mbie

    … I hate these cunts.

  • Anonymous

    These corporate parasites have managed to corrupt anyone and everything on this planet.

    We have to get ride of them.

  • JD

    This definitely is the modern day mafia, run by our own Governments. Its exactly how the thugs operate.

    And anyone supporting them, it shows their true scumbag personality.

    Its not like anything was actually ever taken, were talking about copies of something… nothing was stolen or lost.

    China isn’t looking like such a bad country anymore.

  • Pingback: Kids Detained By Police On Suspicion of Running Torrent Sites | Systema

  • Fortune teller

    BT is only one step in the evolution of file sharing, there are technologies coming soon that will enable file sharing in a decentralized way that will basically make it impossible for the MAFIAA to put a finger on a file sharer’s name.

    Evolution cannot be stoped, as long as there are going to be people out there who want free stuff, there will be a way to get it!

  • English Police

    #28 it is break not brake, come with me for more questioning regarding your ability to spell.

  • Doink

    well i’ll be. you even gotta watch out for dem snot nosed pimple faced rugrats.

  • Anon

    @35 Making copies is illegal too. Only the copyright holder has the right to create copies and distribute it for profit. So dont give me that excuse that copying is ok.

  • Wolfy

    A few days ago here in Ireland, a news investigation program ran a special on the illegal cigarrete trade in Ireland. One prominent smuggler used teenage girls to sell the smokes openly at markets.
    I know that this is Iceland, but apparently, the authorities are more concerned with arresting kids for torrenting than with arresting kids for selling illegal ciggarettes.

  • Chronos5

    @8

    Cops doing their jobs huh?

    Where were the cops when all these banks scams happened?

    Where were all the cops when some fool thought it would be better to reward mismanagement of banks by bailing them out with money from the public?

    Where were the cops when big business time and time again raped and robbed smaller companies to eliminate real competition?

    Where were the cops when real criminals committed real crimes on a global scale?

    I doubt Hitler could do a better job than these guys are doing. Misinformation, marginalization, extermination. Seems like that is the formula. I wonder if all these copyright crusaders have a few gas chambers waiting for just the right moment.

    It seems to me, that regardless of your view on the whole piracy issue, the pirates have struck a major nerve, judging from the response it has elicited.

    I am for freedom, REAL freedom, not the kind they tell me I SHOULD have.

  • Carbuncle

    @40 – Wolfy

    This is a marketing POV. The tobacco industry achieved (at least in my country) to put the idea that illegal cigarettes are dangerous for your health (yeah, WTF). So that the ppl selling illegal cigarettesdo not have a very good reputation and don’t really compete. And so people that buy illegal cigarettes are :
    - people that don’t have enough money to pay the real ones
    - young fellas underaged

    Both these categories will go to real cigarettes ASAP. in fact this whole illegal thing is really convenient because the black market provides cheap cigarettes to teenagers without hurting the brands. And so the cigarettes brand do not spend that much time fighting this illegal market.

    The movie industry in the other hand never could use this whole piracy thing as a way to promote the higher quality of their services. They never really used torrent to spread unknown tv shows to the masses. They shot themselves in the foot by providing a product that can’t compete with pirated content and their last option is :
    - change their POV
    - fight the piracy world.

    They chose the second option with the success we all know.

  • Chronos5

    I was thinking about the response this issue is getting and came up with some ideas.

    1. Why is the response so harsh and draconian?
    a)They really are losing tons of money.
    b)They are losing some money, but not as much as they make it out to be. If so, why then such a harsh response? Greed? We made a hundred million dollars but we could have made a hundred million AND fifty dollars.
    c)It’s less about money and more about ideas and perceptions.
    d)They failed to invest in this new type of distribution and therefore have no corruption infrastructure to control it. No graft or payola system. Since it is somewhat decentralized by nature, it’s hard for them to target a few individuals for such corruption tactics.

    Just a few thoughts. The response just seems way out of proportion to the alleged crime. They don’t get this upset when a politician betrays his people. I am starting to think that possibly this whole cyberwar going on right now, may be the opening shots of something bigger. Time will tell.

  • Anonymous

    @42

    did you fucking read the latest news in this very page?

    –>> http://torrentfreak.com/emi-promotes-music-on-piracy-haven-rapidshare-101204/

    go, get informed.

  • h33t

    there is an entire economy dedicated to anti-filesharing. it is a money making business. remember that the MPAA and RIAA and IFPI etc are NOT artists, they are parasitic groups of lawyers based solely upon creaming what they can from the creatives

    there is money to be made in promoting hysteria and the looming spectre of an enemy at the gate/within. this is big business at its cynical worst, there is no care for people with real lives, this is all about profit

    http://www.h33t.com afraid to host wikileaks because …

  • Anon

    @44 You have a good point. The good thing here is that they’ve become so desperate that they’re resorting to physical measures, and this is drawing the public’s attention. The plan, whatever it is, will be collapsed on itself. Similar things have occurred before.

    Of course, this war will probably only intensify… Something so decentralized as piracy can never be completely destroyed though. They can make piracy harder to access and support, but those who want to push through WILL do it. For every one site they take down, more pop up in harder to reach places. The media industry is forcing piracy to greater and greater heights of innovation and eventually strengthening it in the end.

  • Chronos5

    I saw a news blurb last night about how wiki leaks moved to the new place. Now yahoo news has an article. Interesting. The fact that there actually is some coverage of this in mainstream media leads me to believe, that yes indeed, they plan to use this for taking over the net. They are prepping the people. Hold on tight, I think it’s going to get bumpy.

  • Not Anon

    39 Dec 06, 2010 at 20:37 by Anon

    “Only the copyright holder has the right to create copies and distribute it for profit.”

    Based on what you just said, it is okay to create copies and not distribute them for profit. But let me guess, “don’t give you that” either right?

  • dg100

    Hmm. I find the ages of the arrested suspects very interesting.

    After all the hyperbole about how piracy is part of every kind of organised criminal activity, from prostitution to terrorism, all Iceland’s big crackdown can produce is (for all intents and purposes) ten children working from their bedrooms and parents’ basements – one of whom either smokes a lot of dope or deals in distinctly small-time quantities.

    Never before have we seen policing of such magnificent calibre and they’ve clearly struck a savage and decisive blow to Iceland’s underworld. Criminal masterminds across the length and breadth of the country must be quaking in their boots, just waiting for that knock on the door! :D

  • akarave

    Well, the only thing I know for sure is that not even MPAA cares about piracy on Iceland. Entire country has around 300k inhabitants, that’s about the same population as Riverside. That means probably a few thousand pirates. Amazingly low number for island country.

    I don’t know what the hell is going on there.

    God moves in mysterious ways.

  • Ninja

    Nice, because kids are evil and should all go to jail. In the meantime go ahead and arrest more than half of your population for sharing.

  • Aerilus

    wtf these kids should get bumper sticker they put together a server were running a tracker off of it presumable a website indexer and probably some other cool stuff at 15 we making enough money to buy pot and were worried about study for test this is whats right with the youth oh today, but no you should sit on your couch infront of your xbox and play your drmed games that your parents bought for you until you are obese. this is sad someone needs to hire these kids or give them a scholarship

  • alive0

    a digital copy is just a bunch of 1′s and 0′s like 110100101 i’ve paid for my pooter and my electricity and i’ll arrange my 1′s and 0′s how i damn well please!

  • Sam

    Um, with the resources I would have run a torrent site at 15. Still waiting for the opportunity.

  • Anonymous

    Wow, yeah! Get those file sharers! I’d *much* rather have the police go after people sharing files than use all of their manpower to catch rapists, actual thieves, and murderers!

    Serves those dirty file sharers right. Copying is the same thing as stealing!

  • Boycott paypal

    Please join The Pirate Bay in boycotting paypal.

    http://thepiratebay.org/blog/185

  • cpx

    Iceland? WTF? I thought AzzA is from Australia lol

  • ReligMock

    Don’t worry, God might condemn file sharers but the Flying Spaghetti Monster smiles upon those who are generous with files!

    He of the pasta and sauce whips wet noodles upon the corporations who have twisted copyright from its intended purpose – to protect individuals from corporations.

  • Anonymous

    piracy is the wild west, we have a 15 year old hosting a filesharing site and as simple as people can make it, it’ll take a regualr guy 4 years in college before he becomes qualified

  • Anon

    shut down a handful after millions in court expenses another 4 handfuls show up.

  • townie2

    with the deficit so high in Iceland that people are leaving to find work, the cops, on the taxpayers money, spend a year investigating this? you really need some more serious crimes in Iceland to make the cops earn their pay. can my friends and i sit around, drink coffee, and get paid good money to “investigate” a website for a year if i move to Iceland? :D

  • Pingback: Martyrer « Stenskott

  • Will

    “Police also seized 80g of marijuana.”

    That explains everything. ;)

  • Pingback: Online Global Week in Review 10 December 2010 from IP Think Tank

  • Anonymous

    @15

    Of coarse your going to find absurd religious dogma if your looking at a TEA PARTY website! Their an insane conservative group bordering on reactionary ideology. Don’t compare them to us rational americans. I don’t know where you’ve gotten this idea that anyone who opposes copyright infringement is on a religious crusade.

  • BTGuard - BitTorrent Anonymously

NewsBits

Even more news...

  • The Pirate Bay Isn’t Down Completely, Just Having a Few Issues

    Twitter and Facebook, not to mention the TorrentFreak inbox, are currently alive with complaints that The...

  • Pirate Bay Founder Gottfrid Svartholm on Freedom of Speech

    Freedom of speech is a highly valued commodity, but should people be allowed to say whatever...

  • Blu-ray Anti-Piracy Tech Stops Discs and Promotes Purchases

    An anti-piracy system present in all official Blu-ray players since 2012 has received a fresh update...

  • Foxtel Breeds Pirates by Locking Up Game of Thrones

    One of the main reasons why people turn to piracy is the lack of legal alternatives....

  • UK Student Admits Breaching Sony Copyrights With Leak of PS3 SDK

    Last year an Internet user known as El Nomeo leaked version 3.70 of Sony’s Playstation3 SDK...

MostDiscussed

Below are TorrentFreak's most discussed articles of the past month. Join the discussion if you like.

CopyQuote

Left Quote

“The Pirate Bay has been one of the most important movements in Sweden for freedom of speech, working against corruption and censorship.

Peter Sunde Left Quote

PopularArticles

A selection of some TorrentFreak's classics dug up from our archives.