What's Up with Torrent Websites Going Down? Rest in peace Torrentz :(

Torrents are the most common method to share large files over the internet. Notorious for also being the most commonly used method to transfer copyrighted material, and help mainstream piracy at a massive global level, the positive attributions of torrents cannot be ignored either. Peer to Peer methods such as BitTorrent help share movies, documentaries and large sharewares that make other methods of file sharing useless. Unfortunately, because of the massive piracy that they enable, recently several Torrent websites are being brought down, and now the world's largest Torrent search engine also bid goodbye for undisclosed reasons.

Torrentz, a search engine for Torrents that didn't host any Torrents or files or data on its own website has suddenly stopped working without declaring any reason. Of course, it's very likely the move has been done via self-censorship because of the law catching up on Torrents. This marks the end of an era and possibly a sign of the most famous mainstream and trusted Torrent websites possibly ending soon.

Torrentz was a very powerful, fast and free met-search engine that hosted results of dozens of Torrent websites and allowed the user to search in spot instead of several websites individually. The search engine announced "farewell" to millions of its users without any notice, explanation or goodbye notes on their website. It has now disabled its search functionality completely.

If you attempt to run any search or click any link on the site, the search engine refuses to show any result, and instead displays a message that reads:

"Torrentz will always love you. Farewell."

All of its other domains are also following a similar protocol, including the main .EU domain (both HTTP and HTTPS version), as well as, other backups such as .ME, .CH, and .IN. The 13 year old website has taken the internet by surprise and fears of the possible end of Torrents altogether in the near future. Although it would be nearly impossible to ban torrents entirely from the internet, it would be easy to make them impossibly difficult for the average user to access.

Just two weeks ago, kickass Torrents was shut down and the owner was arrested in Poland. Other high profile shutdowns include Suprnova.org, TorrentSpy, LokiTorrent, BTJunkie, Mininova, Demonoid and Oink's Pink Palace. It's important to note that Torrents on its own aren't illegal by international law, but the content shared across it and the act of doing so is definitely illegal.

So what is the future of file sharing and Torrents? Perhaps they will find a way to circumvent international law and keep running longer. Perhaps, some minor nation may not have well-defined copyright laws or an extra jurisdiction treaty and thus may be a perfect safe haven for hosting Torrents in the future. Or maybe the future is dark enough for to live in a world without torrents.

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