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SuprNova.org, the most popular BitTorrent file-sharing site, is to stop hosting torrent links.

In a message posted on its website, the site operators say it "is closing down for good in the way that we all know it. We do not know if SuprNova is going to return, but it is certainly not going to be hosting any more torrent links. We are very sorry for this, but there was no other way, we have tried everything."

SuprNova's demise as a BitTorrent clearing house coincides with increasing legal pressure in America and Europe against P2P-enabled piracy. In the last week the Movie Picture Ass. of America signalled its intention to pursue the P2P server operators in a new front in its war internet movie pirates. Also, a popular BitTorrent site in Finland was raided by police, and an eDonkey site in the Netherlands was raided and shut down.

According to a recent academic study, BitTorrent traffic accounted for 53 per cent of all P2P internet traffic in June.

BitTorrent speeds file transfers by segmenting content and downloading parts from multiple users rather than a single server. As you receive a file, so other BitTorrent users are able to grab it from you in the same way. The idea is to ensure a more even sharing of bandwidth between participants. BitTorrent is not a classic P2P application as it's about improving download performance rather than sharing files per se. Files are found through links on websites, rather than the application itself. The MPAA and co. are gunning for operators of servers which carry these links. ®

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