Seeing how no readers of DailyTechRag would ever download copyrighted media from the Internet with the aid of BitTorrent files, this is likely the first you've heard of TorrentSpy, a popular Torrent search engine. If you really haven't heard of TorrentSpy before, I'm afraid it's too late: the site has officially blocked access to users whose IP addresses originate in the United States. This comes as no surprise, as the Dutch company that runs the site has been involved in a bitter legal battle with the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) during recent months. Despite this fact, TorrentSpy claims that the shutdown is unrelated to the site's legal woes. "TorrentSpy's decision to stop accepting U.S. visitors was not compelled by any court," the company said in a statement. "Rather, it arises out of an uncertain legal climate in the United States regarding user privacy and the apparent tension between U.S. and European Union Internet privacy laws."
Exactly what "user privacy" issues are the folks at TorrentSpy concerned about? Ars Technica reports that a U.S. district judge has just ruled to uphold an earlier ruling that will require "server logging so the Motion Picture Association of America can obtain the IP addresses of those connecting to BitTorrent files via the service." That's a big win for the studios--if only TorrentSpy hadn't just blocked American traffic from site, thereby making the server logs totally irrelevant to the MPAA. According to TorrentSpy, the site will remain open for users outside of the U.S., though the company's future still remains unclear.
For more on TorrentSpy's shutdown:
- see this ZDnet article
- and this Ars Technica article
