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World's second-largest torrent site ExtraTorrent shuts down

'ExtraTorrent has shut down permanently'

Tech Desk May 19, 2017

Users accessing the website are welcomed by a short message saying, “ExtraTorrent has shut down permanently.” PHOTO: AFP

It seems that all the major players in the torrent industry are going down one by one. While some were shut down forcibly, others are going away voluntarily.

In an unexpected move on Wednesday, ExtraTorrent announced that it was closing down permanently.

It is the latest in a series of torrent sites going offline in recent months. Earlier, sites including KickassTorrents, Torrentz.eu, TorrentHound and What.cd went down.

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Users accessing the website are welcomed by a short message saying, “ExtraTorrent has shut down permanently.”

“ExtraTorrent with all mirrors goes offline.. We permanently erase all data. Stay away from fake ExtraTorrent websites and clones. Thx to all ET supporters and torrent community. ET was a place to be….”

The website, which was founded in November 2006, was one of the last remaining big names in the torrent sector. With millions of daily visitors, ExtraTorrent was second to torrent giant PirateBay in terms of traffic and content.

It is still unclear if legal pressure from the entertainment industry was the reason behind the website's closure.

Talking to TorrentFreak, ExtraTorrent operator SaM confirmed it was indeed the end of the road for the site. “It’s time we say goodbye.”