More MegaUpload Fallout As BitTorrent Search Engine BTjunkie Calls It Quits

btjunkie

BTjunkie, a popular BitTorrent search service, has been ‘voluntarily’ shut down by its operator(s). In a goodbye message, BTjunkie writes:

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!

BTjunkie’s founder went into more detail in a conversation with TorrentFreak, stating that the recent legal actions against other file sharing services such as MegaUpload and The Pirate Bay played an important role in the decision-making process. In other words, the war that’s being waged upon file storage and sharing services, many of which are used to upload and distribute copyrighted content, has claimed another casualty. It won’t exactly be the last to falter as a result of the MegaUpload fallout, although you have to wonder how many competitors – or brand new sites – will now be jumping on the opportunity to provide an alternative to BTjunkie users.

As Accel Partners VC Max Niederhofer points out on Twitter, the shutdown of BTjunkie follows other abrupt decisions made by the likes of QuickSilverScreen (closed) and FileSonic (file sharing functionality terminated). Of course, there’s also Uploaded.to (suspended service in the United States), FileServe (disabled file sharing functionality, closed affiliate program), and more.

With even more likely to follow suit soon enough.

Founded in 2005, the sudden, unceremonious shuttering of the site now puts BTjunkie in the deadpool.

(Also check out the reddit thread on BTjunkie’s shutdown.)

Comments are closed.