TorrentSpy BitTorrent tracker shuts down voluntarily

The same day a major internet service providers was busy making nice with BitTorrent traffic, one of the most popular BitTorrent tracking sites has decided to close up shop. TorrentSpy has been involved in a legal battle with the MPAA for the last few years, and while there’s been no court order asking the site to shut down, the TorrentSpy team decided it would be easier to shut down the site than to follow the actual court order, which would have required TorrentSpy to track its users’ private data.

Of course, there’s nothing illegal about the BitTorrent protocol itself. It’s simply a way to transfer files, and the Linux and open source communities have been using BitTorrent to distribute software for some time now. But there’s no denying that a lot of what you’ll find at popular BitTorrent trackers like TorrentSpy and The Pirate Bay is copyrighted material like music, movies, and TV shows being distributed without permission from the copyright holders.

But is the answer to ask BitTorrent trackers to spy on their users, or to provide alternate, legal methods for distributing your content? Perhaps if the studios did a better job of providing high quality ad-supported videos and music for download, piracy wouldn’t be so prevalent. Or maybe we’re just living in a dream world.

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