Torrentz

Torrentz
Torrentz website and screenshot for a selected torrent.
Type of site
 Torrent meta-search engine
Available in English
Created by Flippy (alias)
Website torrentz.eu
(.com until April 2011)
Alexa rank Increase 186 (July 2016)[1]
Commercial No
Registration Optional
Launched 15 July 2003 (2003-07-15)[2]

Torrentz was a Finland-based[3] meta-search engine for BitTorrent that was run by an individual known as Flippy. It indexed torrents from various major torrent websites, and offered compilations of various trackers per torrent that were not necessarily present in the default .torrent file, so that when a tracker was down, other trackers could do the work. It was the second most popular torrent website in 2012 and again in 2015.[4]

Usage

The user interface was simple and minimal. It consisted of two basic blocks: a user menu and a search panel. Users were not required to register before searching the files. The search field was autocomplete-enabled, providing suggestions based on popular searches that match the currently typed keywords.

To perform a search, users would simply type in a string of keywords related to their desired content and execute the search by either pressing the search button in the UI or press the enter key on the keyboard. From there, a list of matching torrent files were displayed on the screen for the user to choose from. This list could be filtered by age (one day, three days, one week or one month) and by "safety & quality" (any, good or verified). By default the "good" filter was applied. "Verified" was reserved for torrents uploaded by well-known groups.[5]

Selecting a torrent from the search results list would take the user to another page listing the websites currently hosting the specified torrent with which the user can download the file(s). Selecting a host would redirect the user to the external website so they may complete the download of the torrent file.

History

In November 2008, scammer(s) using fake papers tried to take over the torrentz.com domain. As a backup, the site administrator set up the domain torrentz.eu.[6] After 18 December 2010, torrentz.eu became the site's default domain because of the domain name seizures carried out by US authorities on various torrent websites.[7]

In 2013, Paramount Pictures sent a DMCA claim to Google to remove Torrentz homepage and two other pages from the search engine. Torrentz counter claimed on this request saying the links do not infringe any copyright policy.[8]

On 26 May 2014, Torrentz had its domain name suspended without a court order[9][10] following a request from the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit. A day after, the suspension of torrentz.eu was lifted. The website has three alternative domains (.me .ch .in) and is hoping to move the .eu domain to a new registrar. All of these domains have since been blocked within the UK by UK ISP BSkyB.[11][12]

On August 5, 2016, Torrentz was shut down by its operators with the message "Torrentz will always love you. Farewell." displayed;[13] It operated for over 13 years.[14]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Torrentz.eu Site Info". Alexa Internet. Retrieved 2014-12-31.
  2. ↑ "Torrentz WHOIS, DNS, & Domain Info – DomainTools". WHOIS. Retrieved 2016-07-21.
  3. ↑ "torrentz.eu – Torrent Search Engine". 2011-04-16.
  4. ↑ "Top 10 Most Popular Torrent Sites of 2012". Torrentfreak.com. 2012-01-07. Retrieved 2012-11-02.
  5. ↑ Ernesto (29 January 2008). "Torrentz Introduces Verified Torrents and More New Features". TorrentFreak.
  6. ↑ "Torrentz Faces Hostile Domain Takeover". Torrentfreak.com. 2008-11-05. Retrieved 2011-04-16.
  7. ↑ "Torrentz dumps .com". Torrentfreak.com. 2010-12-18. Retrieved 2011-04-16.
  8. ↑ "Paramount Censors Torrentz's Torrentless Homepage from Google". TorrentFreak. 15 March 2013. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  9. ↑ "Registrars Can't Hold 'Pirate' Domains Hostage Without Court Order". TorrentFreak. 10 January 2014. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  10. ↑ "Whatever Happened to "Due Process" ?". easyDNS. 8 October 2013. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
  11. ↑ "Torrentz.eu Domain suspended after UK Police request". TorrentFreak. 26 May 2014. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  12. ↑ "Torrentz.eu Domain Unsuspended and Back In Action". TorrentFreak. 27 May 2014. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
  13. ↑ https://torrentfreak.com/torrentz-shuts-down-largest-torrent-meta-search-engine-says-farewell-160805/
  14. ↑ "Torrentz Shuts Down, Largest Torrent Meta-Search Engine Says Farewell". TorrentFreak August 5, 2016
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