Demonoid, BitJunkie, Megaupload Still Considered Threats To Anti-Piracy Groups

By Tom Herrmann | September 07 2012 2:55 PM

Since the beginning of 2012, Demonoid, BitJunkie and Megaupload all met their respective demise, at least for now. Despite the fact that none of these three former players in the infringement business are active, anti-piracy groups are still regarding them as threats.

BitTorrent.com

BitTorrent sites that allow illegal downloads are being monitored more than ever by anti-piracy groups.
The BitJunkie sendoff message that appeared on the site after it willingly shut down in February

Some of the world's largest entertainment organizations and anti-piracy companies still have Demonoid, BitJunkie and Megaupload listed on their reports. "We have discovered dozens of takedown reports being sent demanding the removal of links to content that simply doesn't exist," claims Torrent Freak.

When a website is believed to be hosting infringing material, through link sharing, BitTorrent downloads or other means, they can be reported to Google through a takedown request. If the request is approved, links to the website will be taken off of the Google search results.

"We disclose the number of requests we receive from copyright owners and governments to remove information from our services," writes Google. "We hope these steps toward greater transparency will help inform ongoing discussions about the appropriate scope and authority of content regulation online."

Copyright owners like IFPI, BPI (British Recorded Music Industry) Ltd, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner, Universal, EMI, The Publisher's Association, Microsoft, and even the pornography company Vivid have all sent takedown requests for one or more of these downed piracy outlets since they have been inactive. Takedown requests organized by both site and company are available to the public on Google.

Megaupload, which was shut down in January, had its most recent takedown request sent today. U.S. authorities removed Megaupload from the web in what became a much publicized story.

The events resulting from the Megaupload shutdown are still unfolding, since founder Kim Dotcom avoided jail time due to a poorly worded search warrant. Dotcom is now attempting to rebuild his online media empire.

Demonoid hasn't been online in over a month now, but the most recent takedown request for this BitTorrent download site was today, as well. The semi-private peer-2-peer (p2p) was stopped servicing its users when it was raided by the Ukrainian government.

Demonoid loyalists still believe that the BitTorrent site could make a return, but so far it hasn't. The fact that Demonoid is gone apparently hasn't had an impact on certain media organizations, with 130 takedown requests for Demonoid.me sent this week alone.

Even BitJunkie, a BitTorrent download site that willing shut down its operations in February continues to receive takedown requests. Froytal Services Ltd in particular sent numerous amounts of takedown requests for BitJunkie.org throughout the month of August.

The BitJunkie sendoff message that appeared on the site after it willingly shut down in February

"This is the end of the line my friends," read a BitJunkie message left on the site after they willingly ended their service in February. "The decision did not come easily, but we've decided to voluntarily shut down. We've been fighting for years for your right to communicate, but it's time to move on. It's been the experience of a lifetime, we wish you all the best!"