Though no torrent tracker-hosting sites have been targeted thus far, the latest round of “Operation In Our Sites” did ensnare the BitTorrent tracker search engine Torrent-finder.com, and Demonoid knows that if ICE can seize the domain name of site that doesn’t even host torrent trackers then surely it could one that actually does.
Earlier this week Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced it had seized some 82 domain names as part of its ongoing “Operation In Our Sites” and already one site, Demonoid.com, is trying to stay one step ahead of the game by migrating its site to a new address.
“We are in the process of migrating the site to our new address, Demonoid.ME,” says the BitTorrent tracker site.
When it comes to foreign sites the US govt can only seize the domain name pointers of domains under its jurisdiction. This includes those top-level domains administered by Verisign, and thus ICANN.
“Please update your torrents to the new tracker address, inferno.demonoid.me
Additionally, you can re download them and get them with the new address automatically Also, don’t forget to update your bookmarks and RSS feeds.”
Though no torrent tracker-hosting sites have been targeted thus far, the latest round of “Operation In Our Sites” did ensnare the BitTorrent tracker search engine Torrent-finder.com. If ICE can seize the domain name of site that doesn’t even host torrent trackers then surely it could one that actually does.
Demonoid.com is simply trying to stay one step ahead of the game by registering the site with .me, the top-level domain for the tiny country of Montenegro.
It’s another in a long series of tug wars between govt and technology, despite the fact that the latter is always guaranteed victory in the end.
Yesterday, I mentioned how The Pirate Bay co-founder Peter Sunde, in response to ICE’s domain name seizures, said wants to “add a new competing root-server” that uses P2P so that govts and private companies can no longer control it.
“Having a centralised system that controls our information flow is not acceptable,” he said.
With the US Senate currently mulling the controversial Combating Online Counterfeit and Infringement Act, legislation that would give the Department of Justice an “expedited process” to seize domain names, a proposed P2P DNS system is welcome news.
In the meantime, sites like Demonoid will simply have to switch to addresses beyond the US govt’s reach.
Stay tuned.
I've been interested in P2P since the early, high-flying days of Napster and KaZaA. I believe that analog copyright laws are ill-suited to the digital age, and that art and culture shouldn't be subject to the whims of international entertainment industry conglomerates. Twitter | Google Plus
