BitTorrent Removes Links to Pirated Movies

BitTorrent creator Bram Cohen has removed links to pirated movies from the BitTorrent Web site, shutting down one of the most commonly-used ways torrent users discover and download pirated movies using the technology. Cohen says the move doesn’t prevent illegal movies from being swapped using the famously decentralized BitTorrent software or prevent people from posting links to illegal material, but will in effect force users determined to trade in pirated movies to use other sites to find feeds.

Under Cohen’s agreement with the MPAA, BitTorrent will remove links to pirated materials from its search engine upon notification from on of the seven studios which comprise the MPAA, and also notify the operator of the offending computer. The procedure would serve to put BitTorrent in compliance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which (among many other things) requires service operators to remove material that appears to constitute copyright infringement.

The deal