Demonii refuses to be censored despite pressure to axe hashes

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Amanda Connolly

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Amanda Connolly is a reporter for The Next Web, currently based in London. Originally from Ireland, Amanda previously worked in press and ed (show all) Amanda Connolly is a reporter for The Next Web, currently based in London. Originally from Ireland, Amanda previously worked in press and editorial at the Web Summit. She’s interested in all things tech, with a particular fondness for lifestyle and creative tech and the spaces where these intersect. Twitter

Demonii, one of the largest BitTorrent trackers on the Web recently had to ban over 10,000 torrent hashes because of copyright-infringements.

This is despite not actually offering torrents for download itself. Deomnii connects you to people who share their files on other sites like The Pirate Bay.

Torrent hashes are used to verify the data that is being transferred. Every .torrent file that’s downloaded includes information on the size, type of file it is and what’s included in the download, so each of these are checked against the hash first to make sure it’s the correct file.

According to TorrentFreak, the site was put under pressure by a music industry lawfirm to block the torrents.

However, it was the site’s own hosting site that insisted the accused files be removed within 24 hours and with little choice, Demonii complied.

Its operator told TorrentFreak that these tactics were “bullying” and that they have since moved to a new hosting provider.

“We have moved to a different hosting provider, one which we hope will take the matter more seriously and not just bend over backwards for any outrageous claim and takedown request where ownership can not be proven.”

So, for now, Demonii will remain uncensored and can return to being one of the most popular trackers on the Web.

➤ Top BitTorrent tracker pressured to ban infringing hashes [TorrentFreak]