Another site hosting tracker files for the popular BitTorrent filesharing protocol has fallen prey to legal pressure from the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). LokiTorrent had previously promised to fight back against the MPAA, and was taking donations from users to the tune of $30,000 a month to aid in the legal fight.
However, even with the financial support of the file sharing community, it would appear that LokiTorrent has not been able to defend their case very successfully. A ruling by a U.S. federal court in favour of the MPAA has forced LokiTorrent to shut down, as well as to provide the MPAA's lawyers access to their server logs. The owner of LokiTorrent, Edward Webber, has also been forced to pay a substantial settlement to the MPAA.
The LokiTorrent site now consists of a page posted by the MPAA warning end users that they can "click but not hide." The notice goes on to warn users that stealing movies leaves a trail, and the only way not to get caught is to stop. Sobering words indeed.
LokiTorrent was one of the sites to benefit from the closure of major torrent sites such as Suprnova.org. However it would appear that the MPAA is relentless in it's pursuit of illegal filesharers, and no site is safe. The fact that the MPAA have also gained access to the LokiTorrent server logs is a concern to all users who have used the site to obtain copyrighted material, as there may now be a trail linking to them.
The MPAA is not resting on its laurels now that LokiTorrent has been shut down. Takedown notices are being sent to ISP's hosting eDonkey servers, and four lawsuits have been filed against pirate websites. We don't expect this to be the last time we'll be reporting on legal action taken by the MPAA. In the meantime, if anyone who donated to the legal defence fund of LokiTorrent happens to receive a refund, please let us know in our comments section below.
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