TorrentSpy Shuts Down
Written by Ernesto on March 27, 2008A little over a year ago, TorrentSpy.com was still the most visited BitTorrent site, but times have changed. After an expensive two year battle with the MPAA, TorrentSpy decided to throw in the towel and the site has now shut down permanently.
TorrentSpy is no more, Justin Bunnell, the founder of the site writes: “We have decided on our own, not due to any court order or agreement, to bring the TorrentSpy.com search engine to an end and thus we permanently closed down worldwide on March 24, 2008.”
The main reason for the shutdown is the ongoing legal battle with the MPAA, which started February 2006. “We now feel compelled to provide the ultimate method of privacy protection for our users - permanent shutdown,” Justin writes.
By the end of 2006 TorrentSpy was more popular than any other BitTorrent site, but this changed quickly in August 2007, when a federal judge ordered TorrentSpy to log all user data. The judge ruled that TorrentSpy had to monitor its users in order to create detailed logs of their activities, and hand these over to the MPAA.
In a response to this decision - and to ensure the privacy of their users - TorrentSpy decided that it was best to block access to all users from the US. This led to a huge decrease in traffic and revenue.
This was not enough for the MPAA, who argued that TorrentSpy had ignored the court decision. The legal battle continued, and this eventually led to a preventative closure of the site by Justin, to protect the privacy of its users.
Brokep from The Pirate Bay had this to say about the closure: “Today all big torrent sites are pressured somehow. TPB has its share of pressure, however we expected it and have a legal system that is more just in cases like this. The way that the copyright lobby is going at this is totally wrong and we can’t let them win. And we won’t let them win. Today we reached a loss of a site, but it was more a person having to give up for economical reasons than anything else. The copyright lobby has their big cards - money and influence. In the long run they will have to give up as well. And when they do, I’ll go to the US and buy Justin a well-deserved beer.”
At this point it is not clear what will happen to the TorrentSpy.com domain. Perhaps Justin should offer it to other BitTorrent site owners?
Previously: Mininova Helps CBC to Distribute TV-Show
Next: Comcast Teams Up With BitTorrent and Promises Net Neutrality
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Fugazi:
You missed the point I was making, the entertainment industry is trying to crack down on people getting their hands on songs, TV programs & movies being shared among users on the Internet via public torrents. What I’m saying is that it doesn’t matter because everyone is getting these products from the same few rippers! If you could shutdown the entire torrent system (both public & private), all that would do would be to force users to a more direct, private and secure system by downloading via Usenet servers! That’s all I was saying, shutting down the torrent system doesn’t halt the original rippers of music, TV & movies who post to newsgroups–that’s the point! Thus if the masses can’t get their product via the torrent system, they’ll all mass migrate to the more efficient and ultra fast direct downloading of material via Usenet servers! Also with public torrents the entertainment industry was forcing web-based companies such as TorrentSpy to supply a list of IP addresses of every user downloading & seeding of a particular torrent(s)! With Usenet servers, it’s direct download, no seeding back, thus there’s no mass file sharing! What you say at the end of your comment makes no sense! P2P (peer to peer) is file sharing, it’s only a better way to distribute if you want to go to jail! P2P is: you have a list of songs, TV programs, movies, etc. on your hard drive which you make available to the P2P network. Every time you log on to a P2P network to download something, you’re getting that file from many users all at once while at the same time your own list of files on your hard drive is made available to be shared for uploading to all users! Thus a huge police net can grab all you guys at anytime–yah, real smart! Finally P2P is incredible slow and inefficient in comparison to direct download via an ultra fast Usenet provider!
If not related with court : Pussies
Although it’s a sad loss, Torrentspy since the beginnings of their lawsuits, messed up their site, with bad ads (too much like porn), and torrent sections all messed up, so you couldnt find anything unless you searched. What is really needed is a return of Demonoid, where many people were proud to upload quality, and I had saved many uploaders personal pages, so I could get more of the good stuff
http://www.fileprompt.com
good luck to you Justin and thanks for leading from the front for the past 3 years. it was a difficult decision to close but you are doing the right thing. you have gained some kudos
RIP
I used to be a member of TorrentSpy long time ago. But i move to Mininova the king of real torrents is way better. But losing one file sharing website is not good for the other websites. I just hope no more go down this risky road… RIP TorrentSpy
@Lloyd
> … That’s all I was saying, shutting down the torrent system doesn’t halt the original rippers of music, TV & movies who post to newsgroups–that’s the point!
True. But as you argue yourself later on, at least I read it that way, the main concern of the industry is the mass file sharing. A couple of rippers don’t eat into their revenue. They want the _masses_ to buy the stuff.
> … Thus if the masses can’t get their product via the torrent system, they’ll all mass migrate to the more efficient and ultra fast direct downloading of material via Usenet servers!
Hmm. I’m not so sure about that. Easy-to-use ways to download from industry servers, probably taken over from the torrent community, might be appealing for many torrent users. Even the visible individuals of the torrent community argue that the industry should embrace bittorrent.
> Also with public torrents the entertainment industry was forcing web-based companies such as TorrentSpy to supply a list of IP addresses of every user downloading & seeding of a particular torrent(s)! With Usenet servers, it’s direct download, no seeding back, thus there’s no mass file sharing!
I would argue as you do. But I draw a different conclusion. It makes sense for the industry to spread fear that file sharers can be catched and punished. Give them a little peace of mind by providing something else, that does not involve mass file sharing. I agree, that’s the main point. There is no money to be made from mass file sharing. Usenet servers might an alternative. Maybe for both sides. I believe however, that Usenet servers are more vulnerable to stupid legislation and easier to emulate than a peer to peer network. The industry would probably be happy to provide a legal way to download at a fast speed from their servers. They can of course name their servers whatever they like. Call them “Usenet servers”, “direct download”, “ultra fast”. We have seen this kind of strategy against torrent sites lately and going back all the way to Napster.
> What you say at the end of your comment makes no sense! P2P (peer to peer) is file sharing, it’s only a better way to distribute if you want to go to jail! P2P is: you have a list of songs, TV programs, movies, etc. on your hard drive which you make available to the P2P network. Every time you log on to a P2P network to download something, you’re getting that file from many users all at once while at the same time your own list of files on your hard drive is made available to be shared for uploading to all users!
Again, I agree. And I also see the danger that one could be thrown into jail. However, I like to emphasize the positive aspect of a P2P network. I can share something with others whether some authority (server) allows (provides) it or not. Okay, I have to ask a tracker who’s got the pieces that I want. And I have to ask an indexer what’s the hash for the file that I want. But everyone with a decent network card would be able run a tracker, when times are getting harder. And a torrent indexer doesn’t work totally different than any old search engine. What I like about P2P is that it is distributed, not centralized. Distributed systems are more robust against disturbances. At least, that’s what I like to believe. But you are right that the risk for the individual file sharer is higher than for the individual Usenet client.
> Thus a huge police net can grab all you guys at anytime–yah, real smart!
Maybe. However, zebras in large numbers are doing a lot better than rhinos with strong defenses.
> Finally P2P is incredible slow and inefficient in comparison to direct download via an ultra fast Usenet provider!
Okay, P2P exchange is slower than downloading from a Usenet server. The efficiency is probably higher, because the maximum bandwith in the net doesn’t need to be as large as the download bandwith from one fast server. I can provide my upload bandwith for someone else to use as download bandwith. With a lot of peers a downloader can get decent, still slower than direct download, speed. Well, “decent speed” is aguable, of course. If I wanted to watch _this_ movie after dinner I would probably have to go for a fast and direct download. But if I wanted to watch _a_ movie after dinner, I can watch the one I file shared yesterday.
fuck u buddy
Fuck u buddy torrentspy was the best site i ever used and piracy will live on forever
Wow, Props for you guys not selling everyone out. That shows something we rarely see in these times, much less online; Honor.
My sympathy for any legal action taken against you. Good luck with everything, fuck the MPAA.
If you really want to stick it to the MPAA you could simply Link ten or twenty other torrent sites to the main page. That would probably get em riled huh? ;)
The wars not over yet. This is a battle thats taken out a signifcant player on our side, But its not the end, Nowhere near it, TS has been a victim of the ever incresing big brother state, Fuck em, Dont let the bastards get you down, keep supporting these sites and keep talking to each other. See you again soon TS.
TS was just a search engine. Why then they don’t sue Google as you can find lots of illegal stuff there ?
How many good sites will become victims of MPAA ? We already have 2
major torrent sites offline, how many more ?
fuck mpaa!
rip
Wow, that sucks major money balls.
The TorrentSpy.com was the first torrent site I ever used.
:{
AND it was great for games.
First Demonoid…then TorrentSpy.
WOW.
R.I.P.
Millions of Torrent Sites Will Be Soon Available we Lose One and Thousands Will Be Available
MPAA And RIAA Good JOb For Closing TS Today Survive The Moment Enjoy The Day Cause Tomorrow U will Face 1000 New Born Sites :) Close One and 1000 Will Open u will Never Winnnnnn
ViVa Torrents ViVa FreeDom
complete and total B.S. The movie industry needs no more money than what they’re raking in already, they make plenty from theaters and stuff. The only industry that is hit really hard by torrent sites is the Music industry, whose primary source of income, selling Cd’s, is at major risk, but its complete bull that the movie industry needs more money.
I have been using Bit Torrent since its first public releases and I have seen the rise and fall of many good sites.
Who here has even heard of Torrents.se?
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