Demonoid takedown prompts attacks by Anonymous

The use of BitTorrent has been under attack lately due in part to how easy it is to share files of a questionable nature.  Most find the process to be extremely convenient and a great way to get the latest version of Slackware or hard to find game demo.  The problem is, BitTorrent has a dark side and sometimes the files being shared are not supposed to be either they be pirated, warez, etc..

This alone has led companies to demand that sites tracking BitTorrent files be taken down in an attempt to thwart would be downloaders from capturing their precious bits and bytes.

The BitTorrent link tracker's internet service provider (ISP) took it offline after being contacted by law enforcement officers.

The US had previously alleged Demonoid was one of the most visited sites used to share pirated content.

Many of its visitors are now concerned their activities may be exposed.

Demonoid's site became unavailable last week, but news of the authorities' involvement only emerged after an article in the local newspaper Kommersant on Monday.

Of course the biggest legal hurdle here is that the BitTorrent tracking website only hosts a link to the .torrent and not the actual file you are downloading.  So does taking the tracking site down do anything to stop filesharing?, is hosting a link site illegal?.  I'm no legal expert but filesharing will continue and I'm pretty sure downloading a .torrent file isn't illegal.

Related Web URL: http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-19194467