Torrentz was a Finland-based metasearch engine for BitTorrent, run by an individual known as Flippy[2] and founded on 24 July 2003.[3] 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.[4]
Torrentz
Torrentz website and screenshot for a selected torrent.
Torrentz's user interface was simple; it had only a user menu and a search panel. Users were not required to register before searching files.
To perform a search, users would simply type in a string of keywords within the autocomplete-enabled search field and execute the search by either pressing the search button in the UI or 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").[citation needed] The "good" filter was applied by default, and "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 users would download files). As Torrentz used meta-search engines, users would be redirected to other torrent sites to download content (commonly KickassTorrents, which was considered safe to use).[citation needed]
Historyedit
In November 2008 scammers using fake papers attempted 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, due to 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 the Torrentz homepage and two other pages from its search engine. Torrentz counter-claimed on this request, claiming that the links did not infringe any copyright policies.[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 later, the suspension of torrentz.eu was lifted. The website had three alternative domains (.me, .ch and .in) and hoped to move the .eu domain to a new registrar. All of these domains have since been blocked within the UK by Sky.[11][12] The website had similarly been banned in India in 2012 for copyright violations, this led to incidents of hacking activism by Anonymous demanding the unblocking of Torrentz and other websites which had been blocked.[13][14]
On 5 August 2016, Torrentz was shut down by its operators with the message "Torrentz will always love you. Farewell." displayed; it operated for over 13 years.[15]
Clonesedit
In August 2016, a few days after Torrentz shut down, an unofficial clone of Torrentz - Torrentz2.eu - was launched that initially indexed 60 million torrents.[16] Later that month, another unofficial clone - torrentzeu.to - was launched that initially indexed 30 million torrents.[17] At the end of June 2020, the torrentz2.eu domain was shut down but the backup domain torrentz2.is remained accessible.[18] Since November 2020, torrentz2.is and its mirror pages return a "503 error" to its visitors,[19] although its .onion domain remains functional.[20]
^"Torrentz WHOIS, DNS, & Domain Info – DomainTools". WHOIS. from the original on 15 September 2019. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
^"torrentz.eu – Torrent Search Engine". 2011-04-16. from the original on 25 May 2021. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
^"Torrentz.eu". TorrentFreak. from the original on 14 July 2019. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
^"Top 10 Most Popular Torrent Sites of 2012". Torrentfreak.com. 7 January 2012. from the original on 18 October 2017. Retrieved 2 November 2012.
^Ernesto (29 January 2008). "Torrentz Introduces Verified Torrents and More New Features". TorrentFreak. from the original on 28 October 2014. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
^"Torrentz Faces Hostile Domain Takeover". Torrentfreak.com. 5 November 2008. from the original on 6 July 2015. Retrieved 16 April 2011.
^"Torrentz dumps .com". Torrentfreak.com. 18 December 2010. from the original on 20 April 2011. Retrieved 16 April 2011.
^"Paramount Censors Torrentz's Torrentless Homepage from Google". TorrentFreak. 15 March 2013. from the original on 23 March 2014. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
^"Registrars Can't Hold 'Pirate' Domains Hostage Without Court Order". TorrentFreak. 10 January 2014. from the original on 27 May 2014. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
^"Whatever Happened to "Due Process" ?". easyDNS. 8 October 2013. from the original on 5 December 2014. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
^"Torrentz.eu Domain suspended after UK Police request". TorrentFreak. 26 May 2014. from the original on 26 May 2014. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
^"Torrentz.eu Domain Unsuspended and Back in Action". TorrentFreak. 27 May 2014. from the original on 27 May 2014. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
^"Anonymous hacks Indian sites to protest against Vimeo, others being blocked". NDTV.
^"Anonymous hacks into Reliance servers; prevents users from accessing Facebook, Twitter". gadgets.ndtv.com.
^"Torrentz Shuts Down, Largest Torrent Meta-Search Engine Says Farewell" 5 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine. TorrentFreak 5 August 2016
^Torrentz2.eu clone rises to take place of earlier website 23 May 2017 at the Wayback Machine 10 August 2016
^New Torrentz Clone Appears: Alternative Mirror Site Includes Pirate Bay And Extratorrent Searches 1 June 2017 at the Wayback Machine Tech Times
^"Torrentz2.eu Domain Suspended by Registry on Public Prosecutor's Order * TorrentFreak". from the original on 14 July 2020. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
^"Torrentz2 Suffers Prolonged 'Downtime' and Returns a 503 Error". from the original on 5 December 2020. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
^"Torrentz2 Mystery Downtime Continues but its .Onion Domain Works Fine". from the original on 30 December 2020. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
November 28, 2023
torrentz, finland, based, metasearch, engine, bittorrent, individual, known, flippy, founded, july, 2003, indexed, torrents, from, various, major, torrent, websites, offered, compilations, various, trackers, torrent, that, were, necessarily, present, default, . Torrentz was a Finland based metasearch engine for BitTorrent run by an individual known as Flippy 2 and founded on 24 July 2003 3 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 4 TorrentzTorrentz website and screenshot for a selected torrent Type of siteTorrent meta search engineAvailable inEnglishDissolved5 August 2016 2016 08 05 HeadquartersFinlandArea servedWorldwideCreated byFlippy alias URLtorrentz wbr eu com until April 2011 CommercialNoRegistrationOptionalLaunched15 July 2003 20 years ago 2003 07 15 1 Current statusOffline Contents 1 Usage 2 History 3 Clones 4 See also 5 ReferencesUsage editThis section needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section Unsourced material may be challenged and removed August 2016 Learn how and when to remove this template message Torrentz s user interface was simple it had only a user menu and a search panel Users were not required to register before searching files To perform a search users would simply type in a string of keywords within the autocomplete enabled search field and execute the search by either pressing the search button in the UI or 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 amp quality any good or verified citation needed The good filter was applied by default and 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 users would download files As Torrentz used meta search engines users would be redirected to other torrent sites to download content commonly KickassTorrents which was considered safe to use citation needed History editIn November 2008 scammers using fake papers attempted 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 due to 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 the Torrentz homepage and two other pages from its search engine Torrentz counter claimed on this request claiming that the links did not infringe any copyright policies 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 later the suspension of torrentz eu was lifted The website had three alternative domains me ch and in and hoped to move the eu domain to a new registrar All of these domains have since been blocked within the UK by Sky 11 12 The website had similarly been banned in India in 2012 for copyright violations this led to incidents of hacking activism by Anonymous demanding the unblocking of Torrentz and other websites which had been blocked 13 14 On 5 August 2016 Torrentz was shut down by its operators with the message Torrentz will always love you Farewell displayed it operated for over 13 years 15 Clones editIn August 2016 a few days after Torrentz shut down an unofficial clone of Torrentz Torrentz2 eu was launched that initially indexed 60 million torrents 16 Later that month another unofficial clone torrentzeu to was launched that initially indexed 30 million torrents 17 At the end of June 2020 the torrentz2 eu domain was shut down but the backup domain torrentz2 is remained accessible 18 Since November 2020 torrentz2 is and its mirror pages return a 503 error to its visitors 19 although its onion domain remains functional 20 See also editComparison of BitTorrent sites List of websites blocked in the United Kingdom Internet censorship in AustraliaReferences edit Torrentz WHOIS DNS amp Domain Info DomainTools WHOIS Archived from the original on 15 September 2019 Retrieved 21 July 2016 torrentz eu Torrent Search Engine 2011 04 16 Archived from the original on 25 May 2021 Retrieved 6 July 2015 Torrentz eu TorrentFreak Archived from the original on 14 July 2019 Retrieved 18 June 2019 Top 10 Most Popular Torrent Sites of 2012 Torrentfreak com 7 January 2012 Archived from the original on 18 October 2017 Retrieved 2 November 2012 Ernesto 29 January 2008 Torrentz Introduces Verified Torrents and More New Features TorrentFreak Archived from the original on 28 October 2014 Retrieved 6 July 2015 Torrentz Faces Hostile Domain Takeover Torrentfreak com 5 November 2008 Archived from the original on 6 July 2015 Retrieved 16 April 2011 Torrentz dumps com Torrentfreak com 18 December 2010 Archived from the original on 20 April 2011 Retrieved 16 April 2011 Paramount Censors Torrentz s Torrentless Homepage from Google TorrentFreak 15 March 2013 Archived from the original on 23 March 2014 Retrieved 26 May 2014 Registrars Can t Hold Pirate Domains Hostage Without Court Order TorrentFreak 10 January 2014 Archived from the original on 27 May 2014 Retrieved 26 May 2014 Whatever Happened to Due Process easyDNS 8 October 2013 Archived from the original on 5 December 2014 Retrieved 27 May 2014 Torrentz eu Domain suspended after UK Police request TorrentFreak 26 May 2014 Archived from the original on 26 May 2014 Retrieved 26 May 2014 Torrentz eu Domain Unsuspended and Back in Action TorrentFreak 27 May 2014 Archived from the original on 27 May 2014 Retrieved 27 May 2014 Anonymous hacks Indian sites to protest against Vimeo others being blocked NDTV Anonymous hacks into Reliance servers prevents users from accessing Facebook Twitter gadgets ndtv com Torrentz Shuts Down Largest Torrent Meta Search Engine Says Farewell Archived 5 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine TorrentFreak 5 August 2016 Torrentz2 eu clone rises to take place of earlier website Archived 23 May 2017 at the Wayback Machine 10 August 2016 New Torrentz Clone Appears Alternative Mirror Site Includes Pirate Bay And Extratorrent Searches Archived 1 June 2017 at the Wayback Machine Tech Times Torrentz2 eu Domain Suspended by Registry on Public Prosecutor s Order TorrentFreak Archived from the original on 14 July 2020 Retrieved 13 July 2020 Torrentz2 Suffers Prolonged Downtime and Returns a 503 Error Archived from the original on 5 December 2020 Retrieved 5 December 2020 Torrentz2 Mystery Downtime Continues but its Onion Domain Works Fine Archived from the original on 30 December 2020 Retrieved 11 January 2021 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Torrentz amp oldid 1178057201, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
