Decade Of Pirates On The Run: Still Blinded To Real Potential Of Overlay Networks

grarpamp grarpamp at gmail.com
Sun Nov 20 00:07:49 PST 2016


https://yro.slashdot.org/story/16/11/17/2135251/music-torrent-site-whatcd-has-been-shut-down
http://www.theverge.com/2016/11/17/13669832/what-cd-music-torrent-website-shut-down
http://www.zataz.com/operation-what-cd-12-serveurs-saisis-chez-ovh-free/

What.cd, an invite-only music torrent website first launched in 2007,
has been shut down after a raid by French authorities. The private
tracker offered free (and often illegal) access to a massive, deeply
thorough collection of music and was popular among audiophiles for its
strict rules around quality and file formats. The site was created
after the shutdown of another well-known torrent website, Oink, which
operated between 2004 and 2007. Though its primary focus was music
sharing, What.cd also permitted torrents of computer software, ebooks,
and other content. Zataz Magazine is reporting 12 servers that powered
What.cd's infrastructure were seized by French cybercrime authorities.
What.cd hasn't been taken offline completely, but torrents are
unavailable and the homepage now displays a message confirming its
demise: "Due to some recent events, What.CD is shutting down. We are
not likely to return any time soon in our current form. All site and
user data has been destroyed. So long, and thanks for all the fish."

https://yro.slashdot.org/story/16/11/18/2258232/major-cyberlocker-exua-to-shut-down-amid-police-crackdown
https://yro.slashdot.org/story/16/11/16/2134207/police-raid-pirate-site-seize-60-servers-following-mpaa-complaint
https://torrentfreak.com/major-cyberlocker-ex-ua-to-shut-down-amid-police-crackdown-161118/
https://torrentfreak.com/ukraine-copyright-amendments-aim-to-please-united-states-151024/

Earlier this week, news broke that following a complaint from the
MPAA, local piracy giant FS.to was raided by police, with more than 60
servers seized and 19 people arrested. That investigation is still
ongoing but now an even bigger target has folded in its wake. Founded
in 2009, EX.UA is Ukraine's largest cyberlocker and one of the largest
sites in the country, period. With millions of visitors each day the
site is a much-loved resource but very shortly the platform will close
its doors for good. In an announcement to users, EX.UA's owners said
that it was time to throw in the towel after 12 months of trouble for
the site and potential legal trouble ahead. "Over the past year EX.UA
has had a chance to feel the direct threats, blackmail (including at
the international level), and DDOS attacks. These actions jeopardize
the personal information and personal files stored by users on the
service," the site announced. EX.UA's operators say they have always
tried to operate with respect for the laws of Ukraine, including
dealing with takedowns quickly. However, the site does not approve of
the system of distribution and rights management in place in the
country and says it was one of the site's goals to raise this issue in
Ukrainian society. Just recently, Ukraine passed a law which will
allow copyright holders to block allegedly infringing sites without
obtaining a court order. This, EX.UA says, is a sign of "uncivilized
lobbying" and will only result in less respect for copyright. Faced
with a change in the law and a desire to respect it, EX.UA's operators
say that they will shut down the site. Users have just under two weeks
to save their files.


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