Domains seized from Demonoid BitTorrent site up for sale
The Ukraine-based file-sharing site -- once on the U.S. "Notorious Markets List" -- was taken offline earlier this month in a coordinated international effort.
Three key Demonoid domains are now up for sale, less than two weeks after the BitTorrent site was taken down in a coordinated effort.
The Ukraine-based site was taken offline earlier this month apparently when local authorities contacted its Internet service provider, Colocall, and forced the ISP to shut down the service's servers. Demonoid was among the Web sites included in the U.S. government's "Notorious Markets List," which was created to identify "markets, including those on the Internet, which exemplify the problem of marketplaces dealing in infringing goods and helping sustain global piracy."
Three of its domains -- demonoid.me, demonoid.com, and demonoid.ph. -- are available for purchase on domain marketplace Sedo.
Interpol and the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) said they worked together to take down the site, which was ranked in the top 600 Web sites in global traffic and the top 300 in U.S. traffic.
"Demonoid was a leading global player in digital music piracy which acted as unfair competition to the more than 500 licensed digital music services that offer great value music to consumers while respecting the rights of artists, songwriters and record companies," Jeremy Banks, director of anti-piracy for the IFPI, said in a statement. "The operation to close Demonoid was a great example of international cooperation to tackle a service that was facilitating the illegal distribution of music on a vast scale."
Colocall, however, said it decided to terminate Demonoid's service on its own accord.
The takedown led international hacking group Anonymous to promise to bring down its wrath on the Ukrainian government and use "any means necessary" to restore Demonoid.