Popular torrent site ExtraTorrent shuts down permanently

Currently, in the internet world, torrent sites have been under a state of calamity. In an attempt to curb piracy issues authorities, as well as entertainment companies, have been shutting down illegal file sharing sites with full force.

In the last couple of months, popular torrent and piracy sites like KickassTorrents, Torrentz.eu, TorrentHound, What.cd, and Mininova amongst others have been shut down. Some of these sites were in fact mysteriously shut down. While users have been searching and using alternative sites for torrents downloads, it looks like the sites will be blocked soon.

And just as we say this, one of the veteran sites in the torrenting scene, ExtraTorrent having launched in 2006 and surviving all these years seems to have shut down permanently. The portal has made the announcement via a message that is displayed on the homepage when you visit the website.

The message reads as follows;

"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...."

However, the site had been offline for long period of time before today's abrupt shutdown. So it seems like there was some issue going on behind the scenes. One thing that we are wondering is whether legal pressure had anything to do with the decision to shut down. This could be the top cause for the shut down as the entertainment industry and the authorities have been in constant crosshairs with the piracy sites.

In any case, Extra Torrent has been an active player in the torrents domain, being the second most popular torrent site behind The Pirate Bay. But now the torrent community must bid their goodbyes to another major player. Moreover, with the demise of ExtraTorrent, it could mean the end for associated release groups as well.

As one of the major torrent site is shutting down, it will leave a gaping hole and millions of users will be working on finding a new domain.