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
138 Responses
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DAMN IT !
FIRST DEMONOID , AND THIS !!!
FUCK !
I HOPE THEY SPARE MININOVA .
damn! this things that happened.I actually visited this sight only once caused what i always used was “mininova” but there was this one particular game: “Kana:Little Sister” that could only be downloaded perfectly in torrentspy I almost barely downloaded it a day before it shutdown but i decided to download it two days afterwards.
torrents sites are all getting fucked! time will come when all torrent sites we depend on will be no longer existing thus we have to suffer buying things or not being able to get the stuff we do like videos,movies,music,pictures,program and stuff etc…
“the end is near…for torrents that is” -Xander Dowler-
Torrentspy wasn’t bad, the design and the commenting sections were designed very well indeed.
Let’s hope they will return like SuprNova did… maybe it’s not closed that ‘permanently’ as they said ;-)
You guys , dont think Justin settled for some type of undisclosed amount .. I mean holding onto the site this long , blocking off all US and allowing all of Europe to leech “wasnt getting enough revenue,” haha thats funny , i’m sure Justin looks at this way , ok , i rode this out while everyone shares content, WHICH SHOULD BE LEGAL! Now courts are hounding him even tho there is no law against what other countries do! Soo the big guys have a seat with Justine and tell him ” we could spend months and years in court and waste money OR we could settle here for Blah Blah amount as long as you don’t tell anyone we settled with you so it looks as we have won the copywrite law suit.
Justin i know the money is worth it and a man gets greedy but you could of faught for us little guys the guys who believe in P2P Shareing. People don’t understant once you let the government control one thing then it will control another and another and another until people go, WAIT A MIN. THE GOV IS TAKING OUR RIGHTS AWAY.
p2p is a right , if we abuse file sharing illegally such as people who sneak into movie theaters to film a movie that isn’t released.
HELLO UNETHICAL, Hire people within the company to monitor the site, if its illegal erase it. Ban the person from the site ( IP ADDRESS , MAC ADDRESS) all this law suit shit back and fourth stupid you can’t prove anything becuase the consitution and Internet law (government) are combined together people would just go back and fourth. If you Agree post
(P2P Forever) at the bottom!
IM REALLY SAD TORRENT SPY ARE CLOSE. THIS IS GOOD WSBSITE FOR ME +(
Yeah, TorrentSpy was my first torrent site. It was perfect for everything, and I’ll miss it dearly. Sure, TorrentReactor is a fine site, as are The Pirate Bay, Torrentz, and countless others, but TorrentSpy felt, well, comfortable. It almost ALWAYS had what I was looking for, and it was easy to browse and/or search for downloads. Before all the ads at least, it was clean, mostly uncluttered, and overall very professional looking for a torrent site. It had lots of information for P2P “n00bs”, like a comparison of BitTorrent clients, help with download and upload issues, information on etiquette and legal policies, etc.
I say let’s make the torrentspy.com domain a tribute to the old TorrentSpy. Maybe even an information page, with everything needed for anyone to enter and continue torrent downloads and uploads, such as downloads for BitTorrent clients (with detailed reviews), tutorials on using and creating torrents, an FAQ about torrents and P2P in general, plenty of information about self-defense in legal situations, more information on how to avoid those situations, and links to popular torrent sites and/or a torrent download section. This will help those P2P newbies when they’re starting out so they can escape the same legal issues that TorrentSpy faced before it’s too late.
RIP TorrentSpy
i will miss Death42352 or something like that if thats his name he uploaded good shit
R.I.P.
You fought one hell of a fight. Thank you.
They have stopped one, but they will never stop all.
I have HUGE testicles. Bow before them.
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