Published on February 6th, 2012 | by James Johnson
0Torrent Search Engine BTjunkie Voluntarily Shuts Down
For several years BTJunkie has provided users with the opportunity to search for various torrent files, many of which contained illegal downloads of movies, music and software and now the company has announced plans to voluntarily end its service.
News of the shutdown comes just a short time after the US Government closed popular file sharing service Megaupload and arrested the company’s owner Kim Dotcom and much of his staff.
On the company’s website BTjunkie wrote:
“This is the end of the line my friends. The decision does not come easy, 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 an experience of a lifetime, we wish you all the best!”
Unlike Megaupload the website was never directly targeted for copyright issues, however in 2011 it was reported to the S Trade Representative (USTR).
BTjunkie’s owner told TorrentFreak that he feared legal action the likes of which have been taken against Megaupload and The Pirate Bay.
Do you think more voluntary shutdowns are likely to arise given the numerous U.S. raids on websites that feature and point to illegally obtainable copyrighted material?