Loki Torrent Nears Initial Goal
January 3, 2005
Thomas Mennecke
As many already know, the MPAA and its international team of cronies have been widely successful in knocking out many of the largest BitTorrent and eDonkey2000 indexing sites. While SuprNova folded, some decided to dig in and fight the good fight. Such is the case with Loki Torrents.
During the reigning days of SuprNova, Loki Torrent, a BitTorrent tracker, played an important yet lower key role in the BitTorrent community. While not as large as SuprNova, Loki Torrent assumed a critical role in maintaining the BitTorrent network. Those looking to avoid that bottle necks usually associated with SuprNova typically found Loki Torrents to be more than adequate in meeting their Torrent needs.
Since the demise of many Torrent sites, Loki Torrent has witnessed its usage increase dramatically. Like many other BitTorrent sites, Loki Torrent was issued a Cease and Desist letter from the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA.) This warning letter is typically enough for most sites to close down, however Loki Torrent held on. On December 14, 2004, Loki Torrent was officially notified by the MPAA that a lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court in the Northern District of Texas. Because the MPAA does not know the identities of the tracker owners, the suit was filed as "[John] Does 1-10."
In response to the lawsuit, Loki Torrent did the unexpected. Instead of closing down, Loki Torrents decided to raise the necessary funds to counter the MPAA's lawsuit. Considering the copyright industry's tactics are to simply wear down any opponent, Loki Torrent is looking at a minimum of $30,000.00 a month to stand against the MPAA. While raising $30,000.00 a month may seem like a daunting task, especially for a lesser known website, the feat is well within their grasp.
Today, Loki Torrent is no longer the lesser-known BitTorrent website. The current MPAA campaign, and its decision to fight back, has thrust this site into the BitTorrent spotlight. Within two weeks (5 days public) of announcing their fund raising campaign, Loki Torrents is only $710.00 dollars away from reaching their initial goal. At the time of this writing, Loki Torrent has raised an impressive $29,290.00.
As Loki Torrent has pointed out, this is only their initial goal. Legal fees, especially against a behemoth like the MPAA, can and will be extraordinary. Considering there has been no decision or interpretation regarding the legality of hash links or torrents links, the potential for a pro P2P ruling is very real. You can find more information regarding this issue on Loki Torrent's homepage.
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