Over the years, we have reported on the demise of hundreds of torrent sites. Many of them folded due to legal pressure.

This week yet another site bites the dust; one that has been around since 2005, when the likes of TorrentSpy and Mininova ruled the scene.

While those two giants would eventually succumb to legal pressure, Legit Torrents kept on going. Unlike most others, this site specifically focused on content that would not cause any trouble with rightsholders.

RIP Legit Torrents (2005 – 2023)

Legit Torrents managed to flourish in its small niche for roughly 17 years but has now decided to shut down. According to its founder and operator, Dustin Montgomery , recent technical issues proved to be too much of a challenge.

The trouble started when the server’s IP address was null-routed for sending spam or hosting malware. The action was the result of a larger IP address being blocked, which made it impossible for the site’s hosting provider to restore the server remotely.

Technically, it would have been possible to rebuild the server and site, but after spending most of his life maintaining Legit Torrents, Dustin decided that the time had come to shut it down.

“I started Legit Torrents in the fall of 2005. I was still in high school and back then there was no 100% legal torrent tracker that anyone could easily submit to,” he recalls in a farewell message posted on the site.

Millions of Views

Like many others at the time, Legit Torrents began as a hobby project with minimal resources. Dustin recalls that it initially started out with a free dyndns.org subdomain. When traffic eventually started to come in, he made the site’s first investment by picking up the legittorrents.info name for $0.99.

In the years that followed the site signed up roughly 50,000 users and hosted 5,500 torrents. With a few thousand pageviews a day, it certainly wasn’t the most popular torrent site around, but unlike many others, Legit Torrents survived, eventually reaching 22 million pageviews.

The site ran Adsense ads for a while to cover the bills. This worked well until it got banned, not because of copyright issues, but because Legit Torrents signed up for an offer that later turned out to generate fraudulent clicks.

Speaking with TorrentFreak, Dustin notes that at its height in 2010, the site generated over $1,000 for a few months. Admittedly, however, that was in part due to the release of the Pontiac Torrent car and some decent SEO skills.

Legal ‘Troubles’

Running a legal torrent site doesn’t mean an absence of legal challenges. Over the years, several rightsholders mistakenly accused the site of sharing copyright-infringing material without permission.

In 2007, for example, the infamous Web Sheriff accused the site of sharing a pirated copy of the movie The Warlords, confusing it with the free MMORPG kung fu game Warlords in the torrent site’s archive.

Dustin challenged several of these takedowns and he also spent quite a few hours keeping spammers off the site, which wasn’t always straightforward.

“I had spammers uploading torrents en masse for a good while. With auto approval of torrents, I spent a lot of time logging in to fight them,” Dustin says.

Auto-approval could also be a problem when users inadvertently uploaded pirated content. In the end, Legit Torrents chose to manually approve users for posting, to avoid potential trouble.

Life Defining

Looking back, Dustin is quite proud of what he achieved. Offering a site that helped people get a copy of Linux, indie film releases, game updates, or other software was quite rewarding.

“My best memories of the site are just having it be of use,” Dustin tells us, adding that he would get excited when he saw random strangers adding links to the index.

While working on the site, Dustin also helped himself move forward in life. Today, he works as an SEO consultant and Legit Torrents was an informal education that turned out to be quite valuable. Interestingly, even The Pirate Bay played a small part in this process.

“I cannot state enough how much I learned from running this site and others. Way better than a degree in my opinion. It was one of my first exposures to implementing SEO, which funny enough was mostly copied tags from The Pirate Bay and modified to be about legal torrents instead.”

Goodbye

With the shutdown of Legit Torrents, Dustin closes the book on an important chapter of his life. While these goodbyes are never easy, it’s quite refreshing to see a positive ending.

Legit Torrent’s founder is blessed with a happy, healthy, growing family, which is also one of the reasons why he can do without a time-consuming project. That said, letting go is easier than it sounds.

“It’s not an easy thing to say goodbye to this silly site. It has been a part of my entire adult life. For ~17 years it was always there for me to check on, moderate, and take care of,” Dustin notes.

“If you ever used Legit Torrents, I sincerely hope it helped you. My mission in life is love Jesus and love others, and I think Legit Torrents did that in some weird techy way.”

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

In 2014, David Tardà, Andreu Caritg, and Oriol Solé were hard at work in Spain developing Tviso , a service with a goal to unify legal streaming services into a centrally-accessed discovery hub.

Tviso was a new venture for the Spaniards, although not an entirely unfamiliar one. At the same time, the men were also the operators of Series.ly, a then-four-year-old “social television” download site that aimed to blend the benefits of free access to premium TV series and movies with a walled-garden social network of entertainment media fans.

With a reported four million users, Series.ly was a success. It reportedly generated over 638,000 euros in the three years leading up to 2015, after which new legislation in Spain would render its activities illegal.

Police Raid Operators of Series.ly

Following a complaint from a local trade industry group representing U.S. rightsholders, and six months after the introduction of reformed intellectual property law in Spain, local authorities were ready to take action.

An investigation carried out by the Anti-Piracy Group of the Central Computer Security Brigade, with assistance from the Provincial Judicial Police Brigade of Barcelona, had linked Series.ly to a company operated by Tardà, Caritg, and Solé.

In the summer of 2015, Policía Nacional officers raided the company’s offices in search of evidence related to the operation of Series.ly. That included details of revenue generated by advertising and premium account sales to customers all over Europe, Switzerland, United States, Mexico, Chile and beyond.

The three men were arrested and subsequently charged with intellectual property crimes. It would be another seven years before they had their day in court.

Rightsholders Demand Four Years in Prison

Local police labeled Tardà, Caritg, and Solé a “criminal organization”. Rightsholders represented by the Association of National Videographic Distributors and Importers (ADIVAN), described the conduct of Series.ly’s operators as straightforward theft, for which four years in prison would be an appropriate sentence.

Still, a decision handed down by Criminal Court No. 1 of Sabadell in October 2022 found the men had committed no crimes. Before the new law came into force in Spain, linking to copyrighted content was not considered a crime. Indeed, the new law was introduced with this and other types of infringement in mind.

The defendants knew all about the change in legislation. In December 2014, Series.ly announced that due to the imminent arrival of the new law, the site would continue to exist strictly as a social network. All links that would violate the new law would be removed before it came into force to ensure the site was in full compliance.

“The fact that the legislator has expressly added the conduct [linking] that is the subject of this procedure, subsequently, indicates, as the defense stated, that, previously, said conduct was not typically criminal,” the judge noted .

Linking to copyrighted content had been established as “a new crime” under the new legislation and there was agreement the past conduct of the defendants would fit perfectly. The problem for the prosecution was that the new law wasn’t retrospective, and when it did come into force, the defendants had already stopped linking.

Rightsholders Appeal, Appeal Fails

After rightsholders represented by the Association of National Videographic Distributors and Importers (ADIVAN) appealed the decision, last week the Provincial Court of Barcelona acquitted the three men once again.

While he didn’t mention the case directly, defense lawyer David Bravo took to Twitter on Friday to announce a big win that had been eight years in the making.

According to Bravo, the prosecution knew there was evidence to show that Series.ly’s operators had stopped allowing links to external content, because police had obtained it during the raid in 2015.

“It is paradoxical that the ‘enter and search’ that was so publicized in the press as a ‘blow against piracy’ has nevertheless been the main evidence for the acquittal,” Bravo told ElDiario .

“The seized documents were legal opinions from their lawyer to maintain their activities legally, emails with the producers to eliminate the links that were reported to them, and even internal emails between the administrators who said they had to adapt to the new laws ‘however retrograde they are’.”

Other evidence seized from the men included internal conversations about a system to reward users who linked to legal services including Netflix.

“Not even I, as a defense counsel, could have provided more conclusive evidence,” Bravo added.

Rightsholders May Not Give Up

When local news outlet ElDiario requested comment from ADIVAN General Manager Santiago Mediano, he declined to comment, via a comment that made his group’s position clear.

“We at ADIVAN have the habit of not giving an opinion on cases that have not ended, like this one,” he said.

This implies that the Supreme Court may be asked to take on the case, but how that would help in the fight against piracy today is unclear. Two courts have already determined that the defendants stopped their activities eight years ago, so are no longer a piracy threat. Those courts also determined that the men committed no crimes.

Yet hundreds of sites are currently doing what the defendants never did, every single day, while legal resources are spent on a case that won’t reduce piracy in any measurable way, no matter who wins.

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Dutch anti-piracy group BREIN has built quite a reputation over the years. For many Netherlands-based file-sharers, BREIN was considered a mortal online enemy.

Passions don’t run anywhere near as high today, but not because BREIN took its foot off the gas. Anyone involved in the Dutch piracy scene still risks running into BREIN, and while that isn’t exactly ideal, it isn’t necessarily the end of the world either.

BREIN usually has a handful of key goals. Most importantly, any infringement of its clients’ rights must come to an immediate end. After that, BREIN seeks compensation to cover its costs and, depending on circumstances, a reasonable financial penalty.

The final component is a signature on a legal agreement that outlines what will happen if piracy somehow restarts. Agreement terms vary, but settling with BREIN and then breaching the agreement has a tendency to multiply any financial components.

Pirate Couple Caught Uploading

Although it probably wouldn’t shy away from the opportunity, BREIN tends not to chase down casual pirates. The group is more interested in making a difference where it really counts, i.e removing pirate sites and their uploaders from the ecosystem. In a case dating back to 2018, BREIN focused on a torrent site and eliminated both.

According to BREIN, the site was small but persistent, offering movies, TV shows, ebooks and games for download. BREIN identified three people involved in the site, including the site’s administrators, a middle-aged married couple.

Since all three were out of work, BREIN adjusted its settlement offer accordingly. The couple agreed to pay 2,500 euros but also signed an agreement that detailed the consequences should they return to their old ways.

Pirate Couple Caught Uploading Again

BREIN references a married couple in an announcement published today. The man and woman signed an abstention agreement back in 2018, just like the couple mentioned above. While the anti-piracy group rarely identifies infringers by name, uploading cases involving married couples are rare, particularly given the timeframe.

BREIN reports that during an investigation into various sites illegally offering movies, TV shows, music, ebooks and games, information came to light that various aliases responsible for thousands of illegal uploads belonged to a couple with whom BREIN had previously settled. As a result, BREIN determined that the terms of their settlement agreement had been breached.

Financial Consequences

“Despite their promise in the 2018 abstention statement, they had secretly continued their illegal uploads, hiding with the help of those involved in the illegal websites,” BREIN explains.

“It has now been agreed with them that they will pay 16,200 euros and, in the event of non-payment, will immediately owe 55,000 euros.”

Using the 2,500 euro settlement figure cited by BREIN in 2018, 16,200 euros represents a six-fold increase for a second offense and breach of the original settlement terms. With the amount for non-payment more than three times the amount now owed, any additional infringement will result in significant additional penalties.

According to BREIN , any future infringement carries a penalty of 5,000 euros per day or the same amount per infringement. Since this type of penalty is instantly enforceable, a visit from a bailiff could happen sooner rather than later.

In This Together

The man and woman signed a joint abstention agreement so are jointly and severally liable. This means they must pay the full amount together, or face liability for the full amount as an individual. That’s obviously not ideal under the circumstances.

Whether one or both breached the original agreement to abstain from illegal uploading is unknown, but even if only one breached the agreement, both are still liable.

Note: An earlier version of this article misstated the couple’s relationship status. We apologize for any misunderstanding

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

After building their sites almost from scratch and then populating them with the right kind of users, private torrent site owners understand the long haul.

Private tracker users also tend to be more invested, partly due to a community spirit mostly absent from public sites. For these reasons and more, merging two private sites into one is a fairly rare occurrence.

Private torrent trackers HDCity and HD-Spain did have things in common, not least a shared interest in Spanish-focused HD content, movies and TV shows in particular.

Operating from a .li domain, HDCity had its own encoding team, and becoming a member was no easy task. Opinions varied, but some believed that HD-Spain had more to offer. Soon that would become undisputed.

Time to Merge

Following a decision to merge the sites, the initial plan was for both to lose their identities and then reemerge as an ambitious single project, with fresh branding and a brand new name – Pixelados.

When it became clear that the Pixelados project needed more time, users from HDCity were migrated to HD-Spain as an interim measure. In time, HDCity ceased to exist and in line with tradition, the site departed with the usual quote from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

Those behind the merged torrent sites previously joked that the site would become “ Schrödinger ‘s tracker” – HD-Spain.com carrying the merged user data with Pixelados.tv the new domain – despite not actually being the Pixelados as planned.

As recently as December 2022, both HD-Spain and Pixelados domains remained in use. A few days ago, all domains suddenly fell out of service. When they returned, any hope of Pixelados still being alive – or even both dead and alive – was removed.

Another ACE Shutdown

Like hundreds of sites over the past five years, Pixelados/HD-Spain had succumbed to the legal threats of the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment.

“As you can see (or not yet, depending on how you refresh the hd-spain.com and pixelados.tv domains in your browser) the domains now point to a website owned by the ‘Alliance For Creativity And Entertainment’,” an announcement by the sites’ operator reads.

“Currently, copyright laws in Spain allow websites to be sued for distributing files by any method that infringes copyright, whether or not there is a profit motive. If there is and it can be proven, the complaints would go through criminal proceedings with possible jail sentences and fines.”

Pixelados/HD-Spain had always maintained a no-profit policy, but as its operator notes, even when there is no profit involved, claims under civil law remain viable and can lead to damages awards reaching hundreds of thousands of euros. Technically, that’s not even the limit, but another option was also on the table.

“In exchange for NOT UNDERTAKING ANY LEGAL ACTION against those responsible for the websites or those related to it, the ‘Alliance For Creativity And Entertainment’ has retained ownership of the existing domains and of course requires the activity of the websites to cease,” the announcement adds.

“And that is how it will be done, it is well known to all that we have NEVER had any profit whatsoever, but this is a hobby, and as such at the moment that it may present a problem for any person in charge of the website or a relative, we close everything for real.”

With the domains transferred, all that remained was to finish the job. The announcement adds that everything has been destroyed; the website, hardware, and all data related to all users – nothing exists.

“Thank you all very much for the time shared, both in good times and in bad.”

Another Site Added to The List

For ACE, this shutdown is just another day at the office. After sending investigators to approach the site’s operator in Santiago de Compostela, Spain, an agreement was reached for everything to be shut down.

“Thanks to ACE’s rapidly expanding global network and decisive action against illegal piracy operators, the legal marketplace for creative content has never been so well protected,” says Jan van Voorn, Executive Vice President and Global Content Protection Chief of the Motion Picture Association and Head of ACE.

“As we enter 2023, our coalition is better equipped than ever to target and shut down the pirates who threaten the legal creative economy.”

ACE reports that 26,000 torrents attracted 300,000 visits to the domains each month, with almost all traffic coming from Spain.

At the time of writing, the domains hd-spain.com and pixelados.tv are in the hands of the Motion Picture Association along with two other related domains – hd-spain.org and hdspain.org.

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Private torrent sites, or private trackers as they’re commonly known, are designed to be difficult to access.

In many cases, prospective members will need an invitation from someone who is already a member, although some sites will open their front doors when people open their wallets. This presents a challenge for people who want to give them valuable, urgent information but must pay to do so.

Background and Dilemma

Just a few hours ago, TorrentFreak received a rather detailed tip from a security researcher who prefers to remain anonymous. The information relates to three major/well-known private trackers and their users directly, but from the evidence presented, the security debacle exposes other sites too.

The researcher came to us with the story because, after trying to get the attention of the sites’ operators, even through other sites that might forward the message, nothing has been done. Surprising, given the scale of the problem.

The researcher’s goal is to protect the sites’ users but if we publicly name the sites here, that will not buy enough time for the admins to hear about the news and plug the gaps. Instead, we’ll provide enough information for the sites’ operators to recognize their own site from the inside and then one minute later, the problem should be fixed.

The Security Issue

To get their hands on the latest releases as quickly as possible, trackers often rely on outside sources that have access to so-called 0-Day content, i.e, content released today. The three affected sites seem to have little difficulty obtaining some of their content within minutes. At least in part, that’s achieved via automation.

When outside suppliers of content are other torrent sites, a piece of software called Torrent Auto Uploader steps in. It can automatically download torrents, descriptions, and associated NFO files from one site and upload them to another, complete with a new .torrent file containing the tracker’s announce URL.

The management page above has been heavily redacted because the content has the potential to identify at least one of the sites. It’s a web interface, one that has no password protection and is readily accessible by anyone with a web browser. The same problem affects at least three different servers operated by the three sites in question.

Web Interface For Torrent Clients

Torrent Auto Uploader relies on torrent clients to transfer content. The three sites in question all use rTorrent clients with a ruTorrent Web UI. We know this because the researcher sent over a whole bunch of screenshots and supporting information which confirms access to the torrent clients as well as the Torrent Auto Uploader software.

The image above shows redactions on the tracker tab for good reason. In a regular setup, torrent users can see the names of the trackers coordinating their downloads. This setup is no different except that these URLs reference three different trackers supplying the content to one of the three compromised sites.

Can it Get Any Worse?

Rather than publish a sequence of completely redacted screenshots, we’ll try to explain what they contain. One begins with a GET request to another tracker, which responds with a torrent file. It’s then uploaded to the requesting site which updates its SQL database accordingly.

From there the script starts checking for any new entries on a specific RSS feed which is hidden away on another site that has nothing to do with torrents. The feed is protected with a passkey but that’s only useful when nobody knows what it is.

The same security hole also grants direct access to one of the sites tracker ‘bots’ through the panel that controls it.

Then there’s access to ‘Staff Tools’ on the same page which connect to other pages allowing username changes, uploader application reviews, and a list of misbehaving users that need to be monitored. That’s on top of user profiles, the number of torrents they have active, and everything else one could imagine.

Another screenshot featuring a torrent related to a 2022 movie reveals the URL of yet another third-party supplier tracker. Some basic queries on that URL lead to even more torrent sites. And from there, more, and more, and more – revealing torrent passkeys for every single one on the way.

Security holes need to be fixed sooner rather than later but getting hold of operators in this niche is difficult by design. Users of all sites might want to make a bit of noise in the hope that the three that matter actually do something.

Update: Two shut down, one to go

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Many private torrent sites track user traffic to ensure that when content is downloaded, an agreed amount is uploaded back to the rest of the community.

Users can independently maintain their own transfer records, which help them keep track of overall bandwidth used and compliance with site rules, whenever traffic volume is an important factor.

But whether they’re held locally, on a torrent site, or by an intermediary service, the usefulness of logs is reversed when they fall into the wrong hands.

DanishBytes User Arrested Then Prosecuted

Early November 2021, Denmark’s Public Prosecutor for Special Economic and International Crime (SØIK) announced that six people had been arrested following criminal referrals by Rights Alliance. All were members and/or operators of ShareUniversity and DanishBytes.

Prosecution of site operators is not uncommon but when it’s deemed in the public interest, pirate site users can also face charges. Every case is unique so criteria differ, especially across national borders, but when evidence shows large volumes of infringement, successful prosecutions become more likely. That was the case when a former DanishBytes user was sentenced last week.

According to Danish anti-piracy group Rights Alliance, the 28-year-old man was a regular site member and wasn’t involved in running the site. That being said, evidence showed that for the period January 2021 to November 2021, he downloaded and/or uploaded no less than 3,000 copyrighted works, including movies, TV shows, music, books, audiobooks and comics.

Guilty Plea and Sentencing

Information released by the National Unit for Special Crimes (NSK), a Danish police unit focused on cybercrime, organized crime, and related financial crime, reveals that the user’s traffic statistics interested prosecutors.

“During the period, the man downloaded no less than 100 TB and uploaded no less than 20 TB of copyrighted material,” NSK says.

BitTorrent trackers operating a ratio model usually insist on a better ratio of downloads to uploads but DanishBytes’ situation was out of the ordinary.

The site launched in January 2021 in the wake of other sites being shut down , so had to get going from a standing start with no users. Even when arrests were being made, the site still had a relatively small userbase, which can limit opportunities to upload more. That may have been a blessing in disguise.

Faced with the evidence, the man decided to plead guilty and was sentenced last week at the Court in Vibourg. In common with similar prosecutions recently, he received a suspended conditional sentence of 60 days’ probation, 80 hours of community service, and confiscation of his computer equipment.

“I am satisfied with the verdict. With a sentence of 60 days of suspended imprisonment, the court sends a clear signal that not only the masterminds, but also users of illegal file sharing services can risk being punished,” says Beytullaah Karacan, deputy prosecutor at NSK.

Rights Alliance Welcomes Conviction

The case against the DanishBytes user began with a Rights Alliance investigation and a referral to the police. As part of his sentence, the man must pay the anti-piracy group DKK 5,000 (US$600) in compensation but Rights Alliance director Maria Fredenslund is focused on the deterrent effect of another successful prosecution.

“In the Rights Alliance, we have been very focused on getting those behind illegal file-sharing services convicted. But it is equally important that we bring to justice the users who are on these illegal services and who help to keep the services running,” Fredenslund says.

“It is an important signal to send that it is not only masterminds who risk prison sentences, but also systematic users. Therefore, it is satisfactory that yet another user has been convicted, and we expect more of these lawsuits in the future.”

Earlier this month another DanishBytes user received a suspended sentence for his role on the site. The 34-year-old was user who for two months worked on the site’s staff. Importantly, he also used hacked Netflix credentials to obtain content before sharing it with other users of the site.

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

As part of a campaign against torrent sites in Denmark, local anti-piracy group Rights Alliance (Rettigheds Alliancen) targeted several members-only torrent trackers.

Early November 2021, the Public Prosecutor for Special Economic and International Crime (SØIK) announced that six people had been arrested following criminal referrals by Rights Alliance. All were members and/or operators of ShareUniversity and DanishBytes. One of those arrested was a 33-year-old man from Denmark.

Man Progressed From Site User to Staff Member

Following his arrest one year ago, this week Rights Alliance revealed more information about the now 34-year-old from Aalborg. The anti-piracy group informs TorrentFreak that the man was initially just a regular DanishBytes user but was later promoted to the site’s staff.

His position on the DanishBytes team led him to provide IT support to the site’s users. At that time the members-only torrent site offered more than 10,000 copyrighted works to around 5,000 members and, in common with similar sites, not all users understood how everything worked. Rights Alliance says the man did other work too.

Content Acquisition and Hacking

The anti-piracy group says the man was “active in file-sharing” and an uploader on DanishBytes. When users requested specific content to be made available, which included pirated copies of Danish weekly newspapers, the man fulfilled the requests when he could. But there was another side too, one usually hidden from public view.

The prosecution’s case included evidence that the man also uploaded video content to DanishBytes. The content was acquired from legal streaming services including Netflix and TV 2 Play, a subscription channel owned by the Danish government. Anyone can legally sign up to these platforms but obtaining content from them carries risks when redistribution is the end goal.

The man countered these threats by obtaining streaming service login credentials himself via hacking, and by downloading lists of credentials offered by other hackers. These lists typically contain email addresses and passwords exposed due to a data breach. When users deploy the same username/password combination across sites, all of their accounts face potential exposure.

In this case the DanishBytes user avoided paying for Netflix and TV 2 Play while ensuring that any copies he made would be associated with innocent users’ accounts. Rights Alliance couldn’t confirm if any copies were traced using watermarking or similar means. HOwever, it did confirm that the man’s role as a staff member on DanishBytes ended with him being kicked out after two months.

Convicted and Sentenced

Having been convicted for his offenses on DanishBytes and those related to hacking, this week the man appeared for sentencing.

“At the court in Aalborg, a 34-year-old man from Aalborg has been sentenced to 3 months’ probation and 80 hours of community service, as well as confiscation of IT equipment, including for having participated in the operation of the illegal file sharing service DanishBytes,” Rights Alliance reports.

Rights Alliance Thanks ‘Danish FBI’

Founded in 2020 with a vision to create a Danish version of the FBI, DSK (National enhed for Særlig Kriminalitet) is a police unit focused on cybercrime, organized crime, and related financial crime. Following this week’s sentencing, Rights Alliance director Maria Fredenslund thanked the ‘Special Crime Unit’ for its work on the DanishBytes case.

“NSK, the Section for Legal Protection, has been enormously effective in catching and bringing the masterminds behind DanishBytes and other illegal Danish file-sharing services to court, as well as shutting down the illegal services. In this case, we have seen the hacking of the private data of ordinary Danes with the aim of accessing and retrieving content and then spreading it illegally,” Fredenslund said.

“NSK’s efforts have helped to clarify how password hacking is used to give birth to the illegal services with content, and it is gratifying that the masterminds are now being held accountable for their crime, which has consequences for the content industry as well as for the Danes who get their credentials hacked.”

The sentence handed down to the DanishBytes user is broadly in line with those handed down recently in similar cases. However, those cases did not feature hacking or stolen credentials so the sentence is likely to be considered lenient.

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Two decades ago, when the file-sharing boom was just getting started, many people saw piracy as a mystical treasure hunt.

At the time, record shops and video stores still dominated the street scene. That would soon be over, as offline entertainment swiftly moved online.

Instead of listening to a CD at a local store, people started to sample music from the convenience of their own homes. It could take a few hours for a download to complete, but for many, this anticipation was part of the excitement.

Supply and Demand

Despite the potential legal repercussions, it was instantly clear that millions of people were eager to consume pirated content. However, in order for the system to work, a steady supply of uploaders was also required.

Warez groups were already sharing pirated content in their own secretive ecosystems long before Napster and BitTorrent were invented but, when torrent sites took off, a new breed of uploaders began to emerge. These people curated pirated files and shared them publicly for the whole world to enjoy.

The Pirate Bay has always been a breeding ground for uploaders. Some have professional setups with automated bots, but many take a much more casual approach. Not much is known about these hobbyists but we were able to find one willing to share his views.

Vtwin88cube

The uploader in question is “vtwin88cube,” who shared his first torrent on The Pirate Bay in 2010, well over a decade ago. Like most uploaders he has his own niche, in his case specializing in high-quality music releases. As a former radio DJ, this isn’t a coincidence.

Vtwin88cube first heard about The Pirate Bay in the mid-2000s, still using a dial-up connection at the time. He was blown away by what the site offered and when the bandwidth constraints were sorted, a download spree began.

“Having been introduced to the biggest ‘Candy Store’ in the world was a life-changing experience for me. I started downloading MP3 music from the Bay. However, half of the time the tags were messed up or song titles were misspelled.

“I’m a former radio DJ and in radio stations, there’s little room for such inaccuracies. I thought to myself, I can do better, and decided to start uploading properly tagged music. It quickly grew into an addiction.”

3,000+ Uploads

From one moment to the next, Vtwin88cube progressed from basic user to Pirate Bay uploader. Back then everyone could sign up for an account so it wasn’t all that special. But it wasn’t a fluke either.

After more than a decade Vtwin88cube is still uploading FLAC music releases and he now has more than 3,000 uploads on record. These are not all albums he personally ripped. On the contrary, most uploads are recycled hard-to-find torrents he collected over the years.

It’s impossible to find out how many people downloaded the torrents, but it will easily be over a million, if not many more.

Like most uploaders, Vtwin88cube is well aware of the legal risks. Getting caught can lead to life-destroying legal trouble. Meanwhile, being an uploader doesn’t bring in any money, it only costs time and effort. So what does he get out of it?

Vtwin88cube says that he sees it as a way to help other people access music they may be unable to enjoy otherwise.

“I get a sense of satisfaction that maybe in some small way I’ve made someone’s life a little more enjoyable. TPB was and still is to some degree vital for people getting music. Times are tough, just because someone can’t afford to buy music, are they any less deserving? I don’t think so.”

The Green Skull

There are probably other motivations involved as well. After uploading for 12 years, Vtwin88cube is now considered a VIP uploader at The Pirate Bay. This is a ‘trusted’ status that comes with a green skull, which is shown on all uploads.

“I’m very proud of my VIP uploader status on TPB and other sites also,” Vtwin88cube says, noting that he also shares torrents on 1337x, Demonoid, Prostylex, and TorrentGalaxy.

Another major feather in the cap of Vtwin88cube is the fact that one of his releases was apparently downloaded at The Élysée Palace a few years ago. The Élysée is the official residence of the President of the French Republic.

“I’m also proud that former French President Sarkozy liked my FLAC rip of the Beach Boys- Greatest Hits – only the best quality will do for the Palace!” Vtwin88cube tells us.

The prolific music uploader has also spotted his work in other unusual places. In the renowned music database Musicbrainz, for example, his “ The Very Best of Guns N’ Roses ” compilation is listed as an official album release, complete with homemade album art.

A Family

These credits and the ability to ‘help’ others can be motivations to continue uploading, despite the risks. And perhaps there’s a third factor as well; a sense of belonging and the friendships that were formed along the way.

“I’ve developed numerous friendships with other VIP uploaders and crew members over the years, we’re a family.”

Vtwin88cube says that there’s a dedicated group of uploaders who stay in regular contact but not all people stick around. Some uploaders disappear without a trace and, sadly enough, there’s an obituary list as well.

“Occasionally, real-world family members will reach out on the forums or by PM letting us know that someone has passed away and won’t be uploading anymore. Usually the wife or children. Very sad indeed.”

As a seasoned uploader, Vtwin88cube has learned to take precautions in order to remain relatively anonymous. He uses a VPN to log in to the site and while seeding his torrents.

But copyright holders are not the only threat. Vtwin88cube also had his Pirate Bay account taken over by hackers who used it to upload German movies, likely scam-related. Eventually, he managed to get the account back with help from other TPB VIP uploaders, but it was a wake-up call for sure.

The Old Vessel That Keeps Sailing

In recent years The Pirate Bay has decayed somewhat. It is impossible to register new accounts and the comments have been closed. But many uploaders have remained loyal, including Vtwin88cube.

“TPB has definitely changed a lot over the years, she’s an old vessel with maintenance issues. The bilge pumps are running 24/7 keeping her afloat thanks to the tireless work of TPB crew.”

As the site has grown older, its uploaders have too. Vtwin88cube is no exception. His release output isn’t what it used to be but he says that stopping is not an option.

“My production output isn’t what it used to be for various reasons though. I’ve been on the verge of burnout for several years, but I hope to make it another decade!

“It’s my online family and the competition that keeps me going. I guess I’m trying to set a longevity record. The only thing that can make me stop is for the internet police to pry my keyboard from my cold dead hand!”

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

During the final stretches of the 2000s, a group of Reddit users decided that the community should have its own torrent tracker.

The idea emerged during Christmas 2009 after some Redditors, in the spirit of ‘sharing’, posted pirated content on Dropbox and Amazon S3. When those services were swiftly targeted with takedown notices, a torrent-based solution was proposed.

After a few hours of pooling resources, a small group of people managed to get a tracker up and running . That tracker was named “BaconBits”.

BaconBits Rises

Once all systems were running and stable, the staff officially announced their new sharing platform on Reddit itself, branding it the first private torrent tracker exclusive to Reddit users.

“We’ve decided to make a tracker for only Reddit users! Its name is Baconbits.org It’s much like the S3 Dropbox that was started on Christmas, where Reddit users can share out of their hearts to the rest of Reddit,” the message read.

After just one day, the site had already amassed thousands of users. This is all the more impressive since prospective users were required to have a Reddit account for at least three months, with some respectable link and comment karma.

The swift rise of the site is a testament to the power of the crowd. Up until this day, it remains one of the most unique origins of a torrent site that we know of.

The Beginning of the End

In the years that followed BaconBits built up a small but dedicated community. It never ran into any legal trouble that we’re aware of. However, there was a massive technical failure in 2015, which nearly wiped out the site.

While the site managed to make a comeback, restoring some of the content, a permanent scar remained. Things were never the same again and now, almost seven years later, BaconBits is shutting down permanently.

“There is no easy way to say it, this site has been struggling since the great robot uprising nuked half our torrents. We’ve kept the lights on since then, but morale has been flagging, user and upload counts have never recovered, and developer bandwidth has been minimal,” staffer Blackfish explained.

“Many of us staff have moved on to focus on other things, and unfortunately, the time has come when it’s clear that life support is the best we’ll be able to manage. We don’t want you to remember us like this, but nonetheless, it’s time to pull the plug.”

Moving On…

The shut down announcement was posted last month and yesterday BaconBits eventually pulled the plug .

Over the years the site had changed quite a bit. BaconBits abandoned its Reddit requirements for prospective users and started to operate more like a traditional private tracker.

While BaconBits was an iconic site for many early Redditors who were into file-sharing, traffic to the site was relatively modest. That, paired with the change of interests and motivation among staffers, probably made the shutdown decision a bit easier.

When a tracker closes its doors there are always users calling for a restart. The closure of BaconBits is no different. However, if people want to keep the spirit going, they will have to start anew. The staff are not planning to hand over the code, period.

“No, it will not be handed over to a random user with ‘good intentions’. That’s bad security. Any relaunches will be scams,” Blackfish notes.

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.