MPAA Takes Down 50 Torrent Sites
The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), in cooperation with the Dutch anti-piracy group BREIN, quietly shutdown 12 U.S. based and 39 international sites by filing copyright violation requests to the hosting companies associated with the sites.
Neither the MPAA or BREIN have released the names of the sites shutdown so far, it seems the major sites have been unaffected.
It seems the MPAA and BREIN have been reluctant to release the names of sits taken down to reduce the likelihood of it popping up elsewhere inline under a different TLD. Releasing the names would make it easier for users to find the sites under the new URL in the future.
It is no surprise that companies are going after torrent sites, remember last November when the Department of Homeland Security shutdown 70+ sites.
Most of the major file-sharing sites have taken it upon themselves to hiring lobbyists of their own, to protect their company. A lobbyist for RapidShare recently stated, “our having a voice in Washington could be beneficial for us as well as for the U.S. government.â€
According to a recent TorrentFreak article, BREIN has also temporarily disabled more than 1,000 other torrent related sits in the Netherlands. The MPAA and BREIN have worked for a long time together, last year they shutdown 39 other torrent sits, as well.
BREIN is conducting many more anti-piracy take downs in more countries, and the director said in an interview that it will take down sits as fast as they can grow.
