Torrents alternatives after fall of Kickass Torrents, Torrenthound and Torrentz: Kickass.mx shut down (Photo : Getty Images/ David Paul Morris)
The Pirate Bay (TPB) and Extra Torrent are the two largest torrent downloading website still standing following the shutdown of KickassTorrents (KAT). However, it is unclear whether the two sites will be the next target of authorities amid constant emergence of clones and mirror.
Fans were shocked when Torrentz.eu owners shut down the site and disabled its search function. The website has been in existence since 2003. Besides being one of the oldest, Torrentz.eu had become popular, ranking 186 globally.
As opposed to TPB and the recently brought down KickassTorrents that operated as hosts for shared files, Torrentz.eu was only a search engine. Users could use the website to discover sites that had a specific file available from a list of 28 potential sources.
The absence of hosting activities made Torrentz.eu seem impervious to attack as compared to other sites. However, the site still had a takedown policy put in place for any searched copyright infringement files.
Torrentz.eu owners decided close down the shop preemptively based either on actual knowledge of pending action, or understandable fear that being among the largest hosting websites; it would naturally become the focus of any shutdown moves. The site disabled its search operation on Aug. 6, according to Variety.
Owner posted the following notice on Torrentz official website, "Torrentz was a free, fast, and powerful meta-search engine combining results from dozens of search engines. Torrentz will always love you. Farewell."
The reason behind the shutdown is still unclear, and therefore, it remains unknown whether there is a plan to go after additional sites. Furthermore, Torrentz.eu owner have come out to deny that emerging clones have nothing to do with the original website.
The shutdown of KickassTorrents left many users clamoring for alternative torrent sites, and the most popular were TPB, Extra Torrent, and Torrentz.eu. Now that Torrentz.eu is gone, users are wondering if the remaining two will take the same direction. It remains to be seen whether owners of TPB and Extra Torrent will also shut down their sites.
Currently, the torrenting community is encouraged to use the remaining two largest sites as best alternatives to KickassTorrents. Here is footage for more information on Torrentz.eu:
