BTJunkie shuts down as Megaupload arrests put pressure on filesharing

[Jazzy]

BTJunkie, a popular filesharing website, has shut down 'voluntarily' after last month's arrest of the operators of Megaupload.com on criminal copyright infringement charges.



The development is being viewed as a further victory for the entertainment industry in its battle against internet piracy. The website, which offered links to BitTorrent downloads, has been replaced by a farewell message.



This is the end of the line my friends, it says. The decision has not come easy, but we've decided to voluntarily shut down.



We've been fighting for years for your right to communicate, but it's time to move on. It's been an experience of a lifetime, we wish you all the best!



Unlike Megaupload.com, BTJunkie did not itself host files for download, but helped users download them directly from other users via the BitTorrent protocol. It was founded in 2005 and was one of the most popular filesharing websites, offering links to thousands of copyright films, music and television programmes for free download.



Its anonymous operator reported to the filesharing news website TorrentFreak that action by US authorities against Megaupload.com had prompted the decision to shut down. He however claimed the war is far from over for filesharing websites.



The closure of Megaupload.com last month and arrest of its operators, including its flamboyant founder Kim Dotcom, was a success for the entertainment industry. According to the indictment against Mr Dotcom and his colleagues, the website made $175m in illegal profits from user subscriptions and advertising.



BTJunkie was not known to be the target of a similar investigation, although it was listed as a rogue website by entertainment industry bodies and banned from appearing in Google search results.



Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technolo...load-arrests-put-pressure-on-filesharing.html



Question: Have any of you used this site?

 

[Evil Eye]

Never even heard of it, but it is a bit sad.

I wouldn't exactly call it voluntary... more like fear.

 

[Katatonia]

This was so sad. I've downloaded so much new music from BTJunkie. :/



But a friend showed me a good-enough replacement so it's k. Also we still have The Pirate Bay. They're kinda smart coz they changed their doman to .se so Uncle Sam can't do nothin' to TPB.

 

[Flurry]

We've been fighting for years for your right to communicate, but it's time to move on. It's been an experience of a lifetime, we wish you all the best!

Oh bah, you would think continuing the fight for the right to communicate would be very important. That's one of the saddest and pathetic reasons to give. Makes you wonder if someone offered a large sum of cash.

 

[DrLeftover]

I've noticed that some of the overseas services, including a couple of torrant sites, have a message that their service is unavailable in the US.



So, the administration's mission is being carried forward all the same- Control over the Net.

 

[McConnaughay]

I can't actually think of anything to say, am I expected to jump aboard and rant about the censorship that is going across the internet? The entire reason behind the website's existence was to distribute links to material that weren't owned by the person who uploaded them. The deletion of the website seems to be more of a strike against piracy as opposed as a continuation in censorship. I'm not going to say that I don't utilize websites like this, I'm not even going to call piracy wrong, because numerous musicians and actors already make more money than they deserve. I'm just saying that the perspective of these websites taking material that they don't own and distributing it, or that the content is too expensive and the fact that the creators of the material already make too much money are both understandable arguements. I guess that what I'm saying is that even if I don't like the fact that the website is gone, I think it's reasonable why the entertainment industry feels otherwise. Especially in the sense that not only could you be seen as taking away from the big stars you're also taking away from the other littluns that played a part in making the item, who aren't filthy rich, and could've really used the money.