TorrentGalaxy has had its fair share of issues over the past few months.

Update December 9 : The troubles continue for TorrentGalaxy. After a few days with technical issues, the site is currently unreachable. Perhaps more updates or maintenance? No further information is known but the site’s owners have not informed the staff.

In June, many users feared that the site had thrown in the towel, displaying only a cryptic message that read “4ever?” to visitors. This came as a surprise, even to the site’s top staffers, who had no clue what was going on.

The site eventually returned as if nothing ever happened and resumed its operations. The purpose of the downtime was never clarified and most people forgot about it until the site went offline again in September with another cryptic message.

With the rumor mill in full swing, claims from ‘moderators’ about the site’s demise started to circulate. However, those turned out to be unfounded as the site made yet another comeback after a few days .

Meanwhile, users began noticing occasional technical issues with the site, including periods of downtime such as today. Visitors to the site currently see the following message: (site’s back on October 18)

“Site is temporarily unavailable due to automated maintenance or some mook spilling coffee in the wrong places.”

These recurring issues are unusual for TorrentGalaxy which never suffered from long stints of downtime in previous years. So, why is this happening now?

‘New Owners’

After speaking to several sources, we can now offer some broader context. Apparently, the site has changed owners recently. The initial ‘maintenance’ was presumably part of this handover and could also play a role in other recent issues.

TorrentFreak spoke to one of the TorrentGalaxy’s original founders, who confirmed the change of ownership. We tried to get in touch with the new operators to hear their side of the story, but they haven’t replied.

Takeovers of pirate sites are not uncommon, but given TorrentGalaxy’s community-driven history, this is a noteworthy event.

Finding out more details about the takeover appears impossible, however. The co-founder we spoke to claims not to have been involved in selling the site and the person who was in charge of the sale can’t be reached.

How it All Began

While we don’t know where the site is heading under its new owners, the co-founder did provide some more background on how TorrentGalaxy got started. That, by itself, is a story worth sharing.

The co-founder prefers to remain anonymous, so here we refer to them using the fictitious nickname “Genesis”. For the record, what follows is the account of one person and should be interpreted as such.

The origin story takes us back to late 2017, when ExtraTorrent had just shut down . At the time, Genesis came up with the idea to start a new torrent site. A developer was approached to code it from scratch, but the end result wasn’t satisfactory, so that initial project stranded.

During this time, many former ExtraTorrent members stayed connected, often using the chatbox of another popular torrent site, 1337x. When Genesis shared their plans for a new torrent site there, “Cameron” (another pseudonym), also a former ExtraTorrent user, offered assistance.

Both founders brought something essential to the table. Cameron had plenty of coding experience and took care of all the technical aspects. Meanwhile, Genesis helped out with the finances until the site could sustain itself though advertisements.

Within months, an idea born in a chatbox became TorrentGalaxy, which quickly built a thriving community. In just a few years, ‘TGx’ grew into one of the largest torrent sites, serving millions of visitors each month.

It was already public knowledge that former ExtraTorrent members founded the site, but this backstory adds some more color. What began as a simple chatbox conversation, triggered a transformation worthy of ‘ notorious pirate site status ‘, and the associated legal pressure that comes with it.

The reason for the site’s sale remains unknown. We understand that Genesis and Cameron are no longer in contact. Perhaps they prefer to leave the past behind, regardless of TorrentGalaxy’s future.

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

TorrentGalaxy has had its fair share of issues over the past few months.

Update December 9 : The troubles continue for TorrentGalaxy. After a few days with technical issues, the site is currently unreachable. Perhaps more updates or maintenance? No further information is known but the site’s owners have not informed the staff.

In June, many users feared that the site had thrown in the towel, displaying only a cryptic message that read “4ever?” to visitors. This came as a surprise, even to the site’s top staffers, who had no clue what was going on.

The site eventually returned as if nothing ever happened and resumed its operations. The purpose of the downtime was never clarified and most people forgot about it until the site went offline again in September with another cryptic message.

With the rumor mill in full swing, claims from ‘moderators’ about the site’s demise started to circulate. However, those turned out to be unfounded as the site made yet another comeback after a few days .

Meanwhile, users began noticing occasional technical issues with the site, including periods of downtime such as today. Visitors to the site currently see the following message: (site’s back on October 18)

“Site is temporarily unavailable due to automated maintenance or some mook spilling coffee in the wrong places.”

These recurring issues are unusual for TorrentGalaxy which never suffered from long stints of downtime in previous years. So, why is this happening now?

‘New Owners’

After speaking to several sources, we can now offer some broader context. Apparently, the site has changed owners recently. The initial ‘maintenance’ was presumably part of this handover and could also play a role in other recent issues.

TorrentFreak spoke to one of the TorrentGalaxy’s original founders, who confirmed the change of ownership. We tried to get in touch with the new operators to hear their side of the story, but they haven’t replied.

Takeovers of pirate sites are not uncommon, but given TorrentGalaxy’s community-driven history, this is a noteworthy event.

Finding out more details about the takeover appears impossible, however. The co-founder we spoke to claims not to have been involved in selling the site and the person who was in charge of the sale can’t be reached.

How it All Began

While we don’t know where the site is heading under its new owners, the co-founder did provide some more background on how TorrentGalaxy got started. That, by itself, is a story worth sharing.

The co-founder prefers to remain anonymous, so here we refer to them using the fictitious nickname “Genesis”. For the record, what follows is the account of one person and should be interpreted as such.

The origin story takes us back to late 2017, when ExtraTorrent had just shut down . At the time, Genesis came up with the idea to start a new torrent site. A developer was approached to code it from scratch, but the end result wasn’t satisfactory, so that initial project stranded.

During this time, many former ExtraTorrent members stayed connected, often using the chatbox of another popular torrent site, 1337x. When Genesis shared their plans for a new torrent site there, “Cameron” (another pseudonym), also a former ExtraTorrent user, offered assistance.

Both founders brought something essential to the table. Cameron had plenty of coding experience and took care of all the technical aspects. Meanwhile, Genesis helped out with the finances until the site could sustain itself though advertisements.

Within months, an idea born in a chatbox became TorrentGalaxy, which quickly built a thriving community. In just a few years, ‘TGx’ grew into one of the largest torrent sites, serving millions of visitors each month.

It was already public knowledge that former ExtraTorrent members founded the site, but this backstory adds some more color. What began as a simple chatbox conversation, triggered a transformation worthy of ‘ notorious pirate site status ‘, and the associated legal pressure that comes with it.

The reason for the site’s sale remains unknown. We understand that Genesis and Cameron are no longer in contact. Perhaps they prefer to leave the past behind, regardless of TorrentGalaxy’s future.

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

TorrentGalaxy has had its fair share of issues over the past few months.

Update December 9 : The troubles continue for TorrentGalaxy. After a few days with technical issues, the site is currently unreachable. Perhaps more updates or maintenance? No further information is known but the site’s owners have not informed the staff.

In June, many users feared that the site had thrown in the towel, displaying only a cryptic message that read “4ever?” to visitors. This came as a surprise, even to the site’s top staffers, who had no clue what was going on.

The site eventually returned as if nothing ever happened and resumed its operations. The purpose of the downtime was never clarified and most people forgot about it until the site went offline again in September with another cryptic message.

With the rumor mill in full swing, claims from ‘moderators’ about the site’s demise started to circulate. However, those turned out to be unfounded as the site made yet another comeback after a few days .

Meanwhile, users began noticing occasional technical issues with the site, including periods of downtime such as today. Visitors to the site currently see the following message: (site’s back on October 18)

“Site is temporarily unavailable due to automated maintenance or some mook spilling coffee in the wrong places.”

These recurring issues are unusual for TorrentGalaxy which never suffered from long stints of downtime in previous years. So, why is this happening now?

‘New Owners’

After speaking to several sources, we can now offer some broader context. Apparently, the site has changed owners recently. The initial ‘maintenance’ was presumably part of this handover and could also play a role in other recent issues.

TorrentFreak spoke to one of the TorrentGalaxy’s original founders, who confirmed the change of ownership. We tried to get in touch with the new operators to hear their side of the story, but they haven’t replied.

Takeovers of pirate sites are not uncommon, but given TorrentGalaxy’s community-driven history, this is a noteworthy event.

Finding out more details about the takeover appears impossible, however. The co-founder we spoke to claims not to have been involved in selling the site and the person who was in charge of the sale can’t be reached.

How it All Began

While we don’t know where the site is heading under its new owners, the co-founder did provide some more background on how TorrentGalaxy got started. That, by itself, is a story worth sharing.

The co-founder prefers to remain anonymous, so here we refer to them using the fictitious nickname “Genesis”. For the record, what follows is the account of one person and should be interpreted as such.

The origin story takes us back to late 2017, when ExtraTorrent had just shut down . At the time, Genesis came up with the idea to start a new torrent site. A developer was approached to code it from scratch, but the end result wasn’t satisfactory, so that initial project stranded.

During this time, many former ExtraTorrent members stayed connected, often using the chatbox of another popular torrent site, 1337x. When Genesis shared their plans for a new torrent site there, “Cameron” (another pseudonym), also a former ExtraTorrent user, offered assistance.

Both founders brought something essential to the table. Cameron had plenty of coding experience and took care of all the technical aspects. Meanwhile, Genesis helped out with the finances until the site could sustain itself though advertisements.

Within months, an idea born in a chatbox became TorrentGalaxy, which quickly built a thriving community. In just a few years, ‘TGx’ grew into one of the largest torrent sites, serving millions of visitors each month.

It was already public knowledge that former ExtraTorrent members founded the site, but this backstory adds some more color. What began as a simple chatbox conversation, triggered a transformation worthy of ‘ notorious pirate site status ‘, and the associated legal pressure that comes with it.

The reason for the site’s sale remains unknown. We understand that Genesis and Cameron are no longer in contact. Perhaps they prefer to leave the past behind, regardless of TorrentGalaxy’s future.

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

The DMCA takedown procedure may not be perfect but, for those intending to use it, there’s an unambiguous step-by-step process that’s been in place for a quarter of a century.

Needless to say, entities that deviate from the established rules can make life difficult for themselves as well as the intended recipients of takedown notices. That includes entities that attempt to use DMCA takedown notices to enforce trademark disputes, or prefer to avoid the DMCA altogether by portraying copyright complaints as something more serious.

Itch.io Taken Offline By Bogus Complaint

In a post on X.com early this morning, indie videogame storefront Itch.io said its platform had been effectively taken offline following a “bogus phishing report” that resulted in the disabling of its domain by the platform’s domain registrar.

“I kid you not, @itchiohas been taken down by @OriginalFunko because they use some trash ‘AI Powered’ Brand Protection Software called @BrandShieldltd that created some bogus Phishing report to our registrar, @iwantmyname, who ignored our response and just disabled the domain,” the company complained.

The events that led up to this disaster (at the time of writing the domain has still not been reinstated) seem to highlight an imbalance. While platforms swiftly respond to complaints, they seem far less eager to address the consequences of erroneous takedown requests.

Copyright Complaint Was ‘Upgraded’ to Fraud/Phishing

In a post on HackerNews hoping to draw attention to the situation, ‘Leafo’ from Itch.io explains the origins of the complaint. From their knowledge of the initial trigger, a DMCA complaint was the obvious mechanism to achieve the desired result. Instead, a company called BrandShield Ltd took a different approach.

“I’m the one running itch.io, so here’s some more context for you: From what I can tell, some kid made a fan page for an existing Funko Pop video game (Funko Fusion), with links to the official site and screenshots of the game,” Leafo explains.

“The BrandShield software is probably instructed to eradicate all ‘unauthorized’ use of their trademark, so they sent automated reports to our host and registrar claiming there was ‘fraud and phishing’ going on, likely to cause escalation instead of doing the expected DMCA/cease-and-desist.”

Leafo confirmed that around five to six days ago, Itch.io’s host Linode and its domain registrar iwantmyname.com, forwarded reports of the complaint. In response, Itch.io took the disputed page down with Leafo sharing his concerns with both companies, presumably over the way the problem had been addressed.

“I expressed my disappointment in my responses to both of them but told them I had removed the page and disabled the account. Linode confirmed and closed the case. iwantmyname never responded,” Leafo notes.

Domain Suspension Prevents Itch.io From Doing Business

On Sunday evening, Leafo received an alert and went on to discover an ominous status for the Itch.io domain.

“[I] noticed that the domain status had been set to ‘serverHold’ on iwantmyname’s domain panel. We have no other abuse reports from iwantmyname other than this one.

“I’m assuming no one on their end ‘closed’ the ticket, so it went into an automatic system to disable the domain after some number of days. I’ve been trying to get in touch with them via their abuse and support emails, but no response likely due to the time of day, so I decided to ‘escalate’ myself on social media.”

So Who Takes The Blame?

Despite identifying a possible failure on the part of iwantmyname, Itch.io appears to be pointing the finger of blame at BrandShield, the originator of the initial complaint.

Leafo believes that incorrectly stating that Itch.io was engaged in “fraud and phishing” was an escalation attemp to obtain a more significant result than usually available under the DMCA takedown process.

“I honestly think they’re the malicious actor in all of this. Their website, if you care: https://www.brandshield.com/,” Leafo wrote.

In these types of cases, intent can be difficult if not impossible to prove. However, if the BrandShield promotional document on the right remains current, the anti-phishing service offered by the company operates as SaaS and may allow its clients to initiate action too.

Whether the entire system was automated in this case is unclear. The type of nefarious identity-stealing phishing activity portrayed on the BrandShield website is clearly a big step up from the fan page content created by the user on Itchi.io. In any event, an incorrect enforcement tool prompted an incorrect takedown mechanism, and seems to have led to a disproportionate end result.

Google Transparency Reports

Numerous takedown notices sent previously by Brandshield to Google are available for browsing within the company’s Copyright Transparency Report. As seen here , successful takedowns are vastly outnumbered by those that fail, usually after being rejected by Google.

Without drawing any conclusions on whether the takedowns were warranted, in many cases it appears that Google refused to take action because BrandShield attempted to use the copyright takedown mechanism offered by Google to address alleged trademark infringement.

While that would be convenient, it’s impossible to send a valid DMCA takedown notice for alleged trademark infringement.

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

The DMCA takedown procedure may not be perfect but, for those intending to use it, there’s an unambiguous step-by-step process that’s been in place for a quarter of a century.

Needless to say, entities that deviate from the established rules can make life difficult for themselves as well as the intended recipients of takedown notices. That includes entities that attempt to use DMCA takedown notices to enforce trademark disputes, or prefer to avoid the DMCA altogether by portraying copyright complaints as something more serious.

Itch.io Taken Offline By Bogus Complaint

In a post on X.com early this morning, indie videogame storefront Itch.io said its platform had been effectively taken offline following a “bogus phishing report” that resulted in the disabling of its domain by the platform’s domain registrar.

“I kid you not, @itchiohas been taken down by @OriginalFunko because they use some trash ‘AI Powered’ Brand Protection Software called @BrandShieldltd that created some bogus Phishing report to our registrar, @iwantmyname, who ignored our response and just disabled the domain,” the company complained.

The events that led up to this disaster (at the time of writing the domain has still not been reinstated) seem to highlight an imbalance. While platforms swiftly respond to complaints, they seem far less eager to address the consequences of erroneous takedown requests.

Copyright Complaint Was ‘Upgraded’ to Fraud/Phishing

In a post on HackerNews hoping to draw attention to the situation, ‘Leafo’ from Itch.io explains the origins of the complaint. From their knowledge of the initial trigger, a DMCA complaint was the obvious mechanism to achieve the desired result. Instead, a company called BrandShield Ltd took a different approach.

“I’m the one running itch.io, so here’s some more context for you: From what I can tell, some kid made a fan page for an existing Funko Pop video game (Funko Fusion), with links to the official site and screenshots of the game,” Leafo explains.

“The BrandShield software is probably instructed to eradicate all ‘unauthorized’ use of their trademark, so they sent automated reports to our host and registrar claiming there was ‘fraud and phishing’ going on, likely to cause escalation instead of doing the expected DMCA/cease-and-desist.”

Leafo confirmed that around five to six days ago, Itch.io’s host Linode and its domain registrar iwantmyname.com, forwarded reports of the complaint. In response, Itch.io took the disputed page down with Leafo sharing his concerns with both companies, presumably over the way the problem had been addressed.

“I expressed my disappointment in my responses to both of them but told them I had removed the page and disabled the account. Linode confirmed and closed the case. iwantmyname never responded,” Leafo notes.

Domain Suspension Prevents Itch.io From Doing Business

On Sunday evening, Leafo received an alert and went on to discover an ominous status for the Itch.io domain.

“[I] noticed that the domain status had been set to ‘serverHold’ on iwantmyname’s domain panel. We have no other abuse reports from iwantmyname other than this one.

“I’m assuming no one on their end ‘closed’ the ticket, so it went into an automatic system to disable the domain after some number of days. I’ve been trying to get in touch with them via their abuse and support emails, but no response likely due to the time of day, so I decided to ‘escalate’ myself on social media.”

So Who Takes The Blame?

Despite identifying a possible failure on the part of iwantmyname, Itch.io appears to be pointing the finger of blame at BrandShield, the originator of the initial complaint.

Leafo believes that incorrectly stating that Itch.io was engaged in “fraud and phishing” was an escalation attemp to obtain a more significant result than usually available under the DMCA takedown process.

“I honestly think they’re the malicious actor in all of this. Their website, if you care: https://www.brandshield.com/,” Leafo wrote.

In these types of cases, intent can be difficult if not impossible to prove. However, if the BrandShield promotional document on the right remains current, the anti-phishing service offered by the company operates as SaaS and may allow its clients to initiate action too.

Whether the entire system was automated in this case is unclear. The type of nefarious identity-stealing phishing activity portrayed on the BrandShield website is clearly a big step up from the fan page content created by the user on Itchi.io. In any event, an incorrect enforcement tool prompted an incorrect takedown mechanism, and seems to have led to a disproportionate end result.

Google Transparency Reports

Numerous takedown notices sent previously by Brandshield to Google are available for browsing within the company’s Copyright Transparency Report. As seen here , successful takedowns are vastly outnumbered by those that fail, usually after being rejected by Google.

Without drawing any conclusions on whether the takedowns were warranted, in many cases it appears that Google refused to take action because BrandShield attempted to use the copyright takedown mechanism offered by Google to address alleged trademark infringement.

While that would be convenient, it’s impossible to send a valid DMCA takedown notice for alleged trademark infringement.

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

The DMCA takedown procedure may not be perfect but, for those intending to use it, there’s an unambiguous step-by-step process that’s been in place for a quarter of a century.

Needless to say, entities that deviate from the established rules can make life difficult for themselves as well as the intended recipients of takedown notices. That includes entities that attempt to use DMCA takedown notices to enforce trademark disputes, or prefer to avoid the DMCA altogether by portraying copyright complaints as something more serious.

Itch.io Taken Offline By Bogus Complaint

In a post on X.com early this morning, indie videogame storefront Itch.io said its platform had been effectively taken offline following a “bogus phishing report” that resulted in the disabling of its domain by the platform’s domain registrar.

“I kid you not, @itchiohas been taken down by @OriginalFunko because they use some trash ‘AI Powered’ Brand Protection Software called @BrandShieldltd that created some bogus Phishing report to our registrar, @iwantmyname, who ignored our response and just disabled the domain,” the company complained.

The events that led up to this disaster (at the time of writing the domain has still not been reinstated) seem to highlight an imbalance. While platforms swiftly respond to complaints, they seem far less eager to address the consequences of erroneous takedown requests.

Copyright Complaint Was ‘Upgraded’ to Fraud/Phishing

In a post on HackerNews hoping to draw attention to the situation, ‘Leafo’ from Itch.io explains the origins of the complaint. From their knowledge of the initial trigger, a DMCA complaint was the obvious mechanism to achieve the desired result. Instead, a company called BrandShield Ltd took a different approach.

“I’m the one running itch.io, so here’s some more context for you: From what I can tell, some kid made a fan page for an existing Funko Pop video game (Funko Fusion), with links to the official site and screenshots of the game,” Leafo explains.

“The BrandShield software is probably instructed to eradicate all ‘unauthorized’ use of their trademark, so they sent automated reports to our host and registrar claiming there was ‘fraud and phishing’ going on, likely to cause escalation instead of doing the expected DMCA/cease-and-desist.”

Leafo confirmed that around five to six days ago, Itch.io’s host Linode and its domain registrar iwantmyname.com, forwarded reports of the complaint. In response, Itch.io took the disputed page down with Leafo sharing his concerns with both companies, presumably over the way the problem had been addressed.

“I expressed my disappointment in my responses to both of them but told them I had removed the page and disabled the account. Linode confirmed and closed the case. iwantmyname never responded,” Leafo notes.

Domain Suspension Prevents Itch.io From Doing Business

On Sunday evening, Leafo received an alert and went on to discover an ominous status for the Itch.io domain.

“[I] noticed that the domain status had been set to ‘serverHold’ on iwantmyname’s domain panel. We have no other abuse reports from iwantmyname other than this one.

“I’m assuming no one on their end ‘closed’ the ticket, so it went into an automatic system to disable the domain after some number of days. I’ve been trying to get in touch with them via their abuse and support emails, but no response likely due to the time of day, so I decided to ‘escalate’ myself on social media.”

So Who Takes The Blame?

Despite identifying a possible failure on the part of iwantmyname, Itch.io appears to be pointing the finger of blame at BrandShield, the originator of the initial complaint.

Leafo believes that incorrectly stating that Itch.io was engaged in “fraud and phishing” was an escalation attemp to obtain a more significant result than usually available under the DMCA takedown process.

“I honestly think they’re the malicious actor in all of this. Their website, if you care: https://www.brandshield.com/,” Leafo wrote.

In these types of cases, intent can be difficult if not impossible to prove. However, if the BrandShield promotional document on the right remains current, the anti-phishing service offered by the company operates as SaaS and may allow its clients to initiate action too.

Whether the entire system was automated in this case is unclear. The type of nefarious identity-stealing phishing activity portrayed on the BrandShield website is clearly a big step up from the fan page content created by the user on Itchi.io. In any event, an incorrect enforcement tool prompted an incorrect takedown mechanism, and seems to have led to a disproportionate end result.

Google Transparency Reports

Numerous takedown notices sent previously by Brandshield to Google are available for browsing within the company’s Copyright Transparency Report. As seen here , successful takedowns are vastly outnumbered by those that fail, usually after being rejected by Google.

Without drawing any conclusions on whether the takedowns were warranted, in many cases it appears that Google refused to take action because BrandShield attempted to use the copyright takedown mechanism offered by Google to address alleged trademark infringement.

While that would be convenient, it’s impossible to send a valid DMCA takedown notice for alleged trademark infringement.

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Cloudflare, a global internet infrastructure company, offers various services to millions of users, including connectivity and privacy tools.

While primarily a conduit for internet traffic, Cloudflare occasionally hosts content permanently on its servers.

The company’s approach to copyright complaints differs based on the role it plays. If Cloudflare merely passes traffic along (for a website using their CDN), they forward DMCA takedown notices to the actual hosting provider, which is often hidden from public view.

When Cloudflare actually hosts reported content, it will remove or disable access to it, following the procedures set forth in the DMCA, 17 U.S.C. § 512(g) .

Cloudflare Copyright Takedowns on the Rise

Historically, Cloudflare hasn’t hosted much content. Therefore, it’s no surprise that the number of takedown requests for this type of content has been rather minimal, averaging between 1 and 3 reports per year between 2018 and 2020.

In the years that followed, this number started to pick up. According to Cloudflare’s latest published transparency report, the company received 376 DMCA reports in the first half of last year . More recent data is not available yet.

In addition to the transparency report, which is published with a delay of more than a year, Cloudflare also started sharing takedown requests with the Lumen Database . These are updated weekly, and suggest that the takedown volume is growing.

Pirate Sites Targeted

Thus far, Cloudflare has shared more than 2,000 takedown notices publicly, most of which are from 2024. These notices target URLs from Cloudflare pages , Images and R2 , including links that are typical pirate sites, such as yts.cx, ytsmovie.cx, limetorrents.unblockedstream.online, and movielair.cc.

Dutch anti-piracy group BREIN , for example, reported several domain names that are currently blocked by local court orders. Through these notices, the group asks Cloudflare to inform the website owner and the hosting company to shut these sites down.

“This letter is to a) inform the owner of the Website of the infringing and illegal character, with the demand to immediately cease the operation thereof, and b) inform the hosting provider concerned of the infringing and illegal character, demanding to immediately cease its services in relation to this website,” the notice reads.

These types of notices are not new. Cloudflare has received complaints for many large pirate sites, including The Pirate Bay. In this case, however, Cloudflare appears to be involved in hosting.

HTTP Error 451

Takedown notices for passthough services are not recorded as valid takedown notices. In hundreds of recent instances, however, Cloudflare did take action, replacing the reported URLs with an HTTP error 451 notice.

The HTTP 451 Error code was invented for situations where content is made inaccessible for legal reasons. Cloudflare uses this for DMCA takedown removals, linking these to the Lumen Database reports.

For example, the yts.cx link to a pirated copy of “Bad Boys II” is made inaccessible by Cloudflare, honoring the takedown request. This is a targeted intervention, as all other yts.cx URLs remain accessible.

The same applies to the URLs of other pirate sites that are presumably hosted by Cloudflare. The company makes the reported URLs unavailable, as requested, while keeping the other URLs untouched. The 451 error notice is Cloudflare’s way to inform the public that it complied with a copyright complaint.

In addition to the classic pirate site URLs, Cloudflare also made plenty of other content unavailable, including streaming sports stream playlists reported by beIN , and an infringing Zelle Pay app .

The full extent of Cloudflare’s presumably increased takedown activities remains unknown, but the company’s forthcoming transparency reports are expected to provide more details.

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Cloudflare, a global internet infrastructure company, offers various services to millions of users, including connectivity and privacy tools.

While primarily a conduit for internet traffic, Cloudflare occasionally hosts content permanently on its servers.

The company’s approach to copyright complaints differs based on the role it plays. If Cloudflare merely passes traffic along (for a website using their CDN), they forward DMCA takedown notices to the actual hosting provider, which is often hidden from public view.

When Cloudflare actually hosts reported content, it will remove or disable access to it, following the procedures set forth in the DMCA, 17 U.S.C. § 512(g) .

Cloudflare Copyright Takedowns on the Rise

Historically, Cloudflare hasn’t hosted much content. Therefore, it’s no surprise that the number of takedown requests for this type of content has been rather minimal, averaging between 1 and 3 reports per year between 2018 and 2020.

In the years that followed, this number started to pick up. According to Cloudflare’s latest published transparency report, the company received 376 DMCA reports in the first half of last year . More recent data is not available yet.

In addition to the transparency report, which is published with a delay of more than a year, Cloudflare also started sharing takedown requests with the Lumen Database . These are updated weekly, and suggest that the takedown volume is growing.

Pirate Sites Targeted

Thus far, Cloudflare has shared more than 2,000 takedown notices publicly, most of which are from 2024. These notices target URLs from Cloudflare pages , Images and R2 , including links that are typical pirate sites, such as yts.cx, ytsmovie.cx, limetorrents.unblockedstream.online, and movielair.cc.

Dutch anti-piracy group BREIN , for example, reported several domain names that are currently blocked by local court orders. Through these notices, the group asks Cloudflare to inform the website owner and the hosting company to shut these sites down.

“This letter is to a) inform the owner of the Website of the infringing and illegal character, with the demand to immediately cease the operation thereof, and b) inform the hosting provider concerned of the infringing and illegal character, demanding to immediately cease its services in relation to this website,” the notice reads.

These types of notices are not new. Cloudflare has received complaints for many large pirate sites, including The Pirate Bay. In this case, however, Cloudflare appears to be involved in hosting.

HTTP Error 451

Takedown notices for passthough services are not recorded as valid takedown notices. In hundreds of recent instances, however, Cloudflare did take action, replacing the reported URLs with an HTTP error 451 notice.

The HTTP 451 Error code was invented for situations where content is made inaccessible for legal reasons. Cloudflare uses this for DMCA takedown removals, linking these to the Lumen Database reports.

For example, the yts.cx link to a pirated copy of “Bad Boys II” is made inaccessible by Cloudflare, honoring the takedown request. This is a targeted intervention, as all other yts.cx URLs remain accessible.

The same applies to the URLs of other pirate sites that are presumably hosted by Cloudflare. The company makes the reported URLs unavailable, as requested, while keeping the other URLs untouched. The 451 error notice is Cloudflare’s way to inform the public that it complied with a copyright complaint.

In addition to the classic pirate site URLs, Cloudflare also made plenty of other content unavailable, including streaming sports stream playlists reported by beIN , and an infringing Zelle Pay app .

The full extent of Cloudflare’s presumably increased takedown activities remains unknown, but the company’s forthcoming transparency reports are expected to provide more details.

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Cloudflare, a global internet infrastructure company, offers various services to millions of users, including connectivity and privacy tools.

While primarily a conduit for internet traffic, Cloudflare occasionally hosts content permanently on its servers.

The company’s approach to copyright complaints differs based on the role it plays. If Cloudflare merely passes traffic along (for a website using their CDN), they forward DMCA takedown notices to the actual hosting provider, which is often hidden from public view.

When Cloudflare actually hosts reported content, it will remove or disable access to it, following the procedures set forth in the DMCA, 17 U.S.C. § 512(g) .

Cloudflare Copyright Takedowns on the Rise

Historically, Cloudflare hasn’t hosted much content. Therefore, it’s no surprise that the number of takedown requests for this type of content has been rather minimal, averaging between 1 and 3 reports per year between 2018 and 2020.

In the years that followed, this number started to pick up. According to Cloudflare’s latest published transparency report, the company received 376 DMCA reports in the first half of last year . More recent data is not available yet.

In addition to the transparency report, which is published with a delay of more than a year, Cloudflare also started sharing takedown requests with the Lumen Database . These are updated weekly, and suggest that the takedown volume is growing.

Pirate Sites Targeted

Thus far, Cloudflare has shared more than 2,000 takedown notices publicly, most of which are from 2024. These notices target URLs from Cloudflare pages , Images and R2 , including links that are typical pirate sites, such as yts.cx, ytsmovie.cx, limetorrents.unblockedstream.online, and movielair.cc.

Dutch anti-piracy group BREIN , for example, reported several domain names that are currently blocked by local court orders. Through these notices, the group asks Cloudflare to inform the website owner and the hosting company to shut these sites down.

“This letter is to a) inform the owner of the Website of the infringing and illegal character, with the demand to immediately cease the operation thereof, and b) inform the hosting provider concerned of the infringing and illegal character, demanding to immediately cease its services in relation to this website,” the notice reads.

These types of notices are not new. Cloudflare has received complaints for many large pirate sites, including The Pirate Bay. In this case, however, Cloudflare appears to be involved in hosting.

HTTP Error 451

Takedown notices for passthough services are not recorded as valid takedown notices. In hundreds of recent instances, however, Cloudflare did take action, replacing the reported URLs with an HTTP error 451 notice.

The HTTP 451 Error code was invented for situations where content is made inaccessible for legal reasons. Cloudflare uses this for DMCA takedown removals, linking these to the Lumen Database reports.

For example, the yts.cx link to a pirated copy of “Bad Boys II” is made inaccessible by Cloudflare, honoring the takedown request. This is a targeted intervention, as all other yts.cx URLs remain accessible.

The same applies to the URLs of other pirate sites that are presumably hosted by Cloudflare. The company makes the reported URLs unavailable, as requested, while keeping the other URLs untouched. The 451 error notice is Cloudflare’s way to inform the public that it complied with a copyright complaint.

In addition to the classic pirate site URLs, Cloudflare also made plenty of other content unavailable, including streaming sports stream playlists reported by beIN , and an infringing Zelle Pay app .

The full extent of Cloudflare’s presumably increased takedown activities remains unknown, but the company’s forthcoming transparency reports are expected to provide more details.

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.