One of the web's largest search engines for downloads on file-sharing websites has been taken offline by the City of London police for linking to pirated content.
#Torrentz.eu was already blocked in the #UK by a number of British ISPs, having been blacklisted in October 2013 alongside 20 other file-sharing sites, but the side's domain name was removed entirely on Wednesday.
The City of London police contacted Torrentz's domain name registrar, and asked it to suspend the site for linking to content which infringes copyright.
However, the site is still live at other domain names, thanks to registrars based outside the UK. The force's request has no legal force, but many registrars follow such requests anyway.
Torrentz is one of the largest search engines for bitorrent files. The site lets users search for content to download using the bitorrent file-sharing protocol. Typically, this is unlicensed copies of TV shows and movies such as Game of Thrones and the upcoming X Men: Days of Future Past, both linked to from one of the remaining versions of the Torrentz site.
But the site also contains legal content, such as installers for free open source software and books released under "copyleft" licenses, which pre-emptively grants permission for them to be shared.
In the Netherlands, a court lifted a ban on notorious file-sharing site The Pirate Bay in January, labelling the practice "ineffective". The ruling, which applied European law, was based on the principle that internet service providers should not have to take measures, such as blocking the Pirate Bay, which are disproportionate or ineffective. The Gaurdian
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