PHT411, France's most-visited torrent site, has been shut down by police in France and Sweden. With millions of users, the platform was a true giant and a top 50 site in France, period. Two Ukrainians have been arrested under suspicion of copyright infringement and money laundering offenses. Servers have been seized from a hosting company in Sweden.
As the number one torrent site among French speakers and one of the most popular sites in France, T411’s rise to stardom is the product of more than a decade of twists and turns.
After a prolonged battle against 31 Canadian media organizations including the CRIA, the administrator of a torrent site known as QuebecTorrent You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now. in 2008 after the handing down of a permanent injunction.
“I just wanna say thanks to all the people who supported the cause and me all along,” admin Sebastian Doditz told TorrentFreak at the time.
Initially, it was believed that the 109,000 members of the site would be left homeless but shortly after another torrent site appeared. Called Torrent411 with the slogan The Torrent Yellow Pages (You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now.), it launched with around 109,000 members – the number that QuebecTorrent closed with.
No surprise then that all QuebecTorrent user accounts had been transferred to T411, including ratios and even some content categories that were previously excluded due to copyright holder disputes.
“Welcome to one and all!” a notice on the site read. “It is with great pleasure that we launch the Torrent411.com site today. All the team of Torrent411.com wishes you the most cordial of welcomes! Here you will find all the torrents imaginable which will be for you for thousands of hours to come! Filled with surprises that await you!”
Even following its resurrection, pressure on the site continued to build. In 2011, it was forced to move to T411.me, to avoid problems with its .com domain, but against the odds, it continued to grow.
You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now.As shown in the image to the right (courtesy You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now.), in 2013 the site had more than 5.3 million members, 336,000 torrents, and 4.7m seeders. That made it a significant site indeed.
In early 2015, the site decided to You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now., from .me to .io, following action to have the site You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now..
But later in the year, there was yet more trouble when the site found itself reported to the United States Trade Representative, identified as a “rogue site” You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now..
With a number of copyright holders on its back, it’s clear that T411’s troubles weren’t going away anytime soon, but now there’s a crisis from which the site is unlikely to recover.
On Sunday, T411 simply stopped responding on its latest T411.al domain. No warning and no useful messages have been forthcoming from its operators. For a site of this scale and resilience, that’s not something one expects.
Message greeting site visitors
Even though the site itself has been down, there have been some very basic signs of life. For example, the site’s Wiki You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now. which indicates the T411.al domain is at least partially intact, at least for now. But for those hoping for good news, none will be forthcoming.
Moments ago, French journalist You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now. confirmed that T411 has been shut down in a joint operation between French and Swedish police.
He reports that “the brains” behind the site (reportedly two Ukrainians) have been arrested. Servers hosted at a Swedish company have been seized.
Anti-piracy activity against France-connected torrent sites has been high during recent months. Last November, torrent icon What.cd You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now. following action by French authorities.
Soon after, the cybercrime unit of the French military police targeted the country’s largest pìrâ†é site, Zone-Telechargement (1,You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now.).
Update: A source familiar with developments informs TF that a one of those arrested in Sweden was a developer. In France, he reports that moderators have been arrested.
Update2: The arrests in Sweden took place in the Huddinge Municipality in Stockholm County, east central Sweden. The men are said to be around 30-years-old and are suspected of copyright infringement and money laundering offenses.
As the number one torrent site among French speakers and one of the most popular sites in France, T411’s rise to stardom is the product of more than a decade of twists and turns.After a prolonged battle against 31 Canadian media organizations including the CRIA, the administrator of a torrent site known as QuebecTorrent You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now. in 2008 after the handing down of a permanent injunction.
“I just wanna say thanks to all the people who supported the cause and me all along,” admin Sebastian Doditz told TorrentFreak at the time.
Initially, it was believed that the 109,000 members of the site would be left homeless but shortly after another torrent site appeared. Called Torrent411 with the slogan The Torrent Yellow Pages (You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now.), it launched with around 109,000 members – the number that QuebecTorrent closed with.
No surprise then that all QuebecTorrent user accounts had been transferred to T411, including ratios and even some content categories that were previously excluded due to copyright holder disputes.
“Welcome to one and all!” a notice on the site read. “It is with great pleasure that we launch the Torrent411.com site today. All the team of Torrent411.com wishes you the most cordial of welcomes! Here you will find all the torrents imaginable which will be for you for thousands of hours to come! Filled with surprises that await you!”
Even following its resurrection, pressure on the site continued to build. In 2011, it was forced to move to T411.me, to avoid problems with its .com domain, but against the odds, it continued to grow.
You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now.As shown in the image to the right (courtesy You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now.), in 2013 the site had more than 5.3 million members, 336,000 torrents, and 4.7m seeders. That made it a significant site indeed.
In early 2015, the site decided to You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now., from .me to .io, following action to have the site You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now..
But later in the year, there was yet more trouble when the site found itself reported to the United States Trade Representative, identified as a “rogue site” You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now..
With a number of copyright holders on its back, it’s clear that T411’s troubles weren’t going away anytime soon, but now there’s a crisis from which the site is unlikely to recover.
On Sunday, T411 simply stopped responding on its latest T411.al domain. No warning and no useful messages have been forthcoming from its operators. For a site of this scale and resilience, that’s not something one expects.
Message greeting site visitors
Even though the site itself has been down, there have been some very basic signs of life. For example, the site’s Wiki You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now. which indicates the T411.al domain is at least partially intact, at least for now. But for those hoping for good news, none will be forthcoming.
Moments ago, French journalist You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now. confirmed that T411 has been shut down in a joint operation between French and Swedish police.
He reports that “the brains” behind the site (reportedly two Ukrainians) have been arrested. Servers hosted at a Swedish company have been seized.
Anti-piracy activity against France-connected torrent sites has been high during recent months. Last November, torrent icon What.cd You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now. following action by French authorities.
Soon after, the cybercrime unit of the French military police targeted the country’s largest pìrâ†é site, Zone-Telechargement (1,You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now.).
Update: A source familiar with developments informs TF that a one of those arrested in Sweden was a developer. In France, he reports that moderators have been arrested.
Update2: The arrests in Sweden took place in the Huddinge Municipality in Stockholm County, east central Sweden. The men are said to be around 30-years-old and are suspected of copyright infringement and money laundering offenses.
