Belgian and Swiss police have jointly closed down the
Razorback2 file-sharing server system, which was a major part of
the popular Edonkey file-sharing network.
The action was called for by owners of copyrighted films, music,
games and software.
According to the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA),
the Razorback2 system held an index of around 170 million pirated
files. The MPAA welcomed the police raids and closure.
The police raids saw the Swiss owner arrested and the Razorback2
machines being seized from a Brussels-based hosting firm. The MPAA
said Razorback2 was one the largest of the approximately 200 index
servers that support the Edonkey file-sharing network.
Servers that are part of the Edonkey network have already been
shut down in the US by the authorities there. Razorback2 was run as
a business and generated cash through donations from users and
advertising.
Dan Glickman, MPAA chairman, said, “This is a major victory in
our fight to cut off the supply of illegal materials being
circulated on the internet via peer-to-peer networks.”
Edonkey users are still increasing in number, though, with
Edonkey dominant as a file-sharing system in countries including
Italy, Germany and Spain.