ExtraTorrent
{{short description|Website providing torrent files and magnet links}}
{{Infobox website
| name = ExtraTorrent
| logo = ExtraTorrent_Logo.gif
| url = extratorrent.cc
| logo_caption = ExtraTorrent logo, as of November 2016
| screenshot =
| commercial = Yes
| type = p2p
| registration = Optional, free
| language = English
| launch_date = 2006
| revenue = Advertisements, donations
| current_status = Closed as of {{end date and age|2017|5|17}}
}}
{{filesharing sidebar}}
ExtraTorrent (commonly abbreviated ET) was an online index of digital content of entertainment media and software. Until its shut down it was among the top 5 BitTorrent indexes in the world, where visitors could search, download and contribute magnet links and torrent files, which facilitate peer-to-peer file sharing among users of the BitTorrent protocol.
History
ExtraTorrent was founded in 2006 by the administrator who acted under the alias "SaM".{{Cite web|url=https://www.asianage.com/technology/in-other-news/180517/extratorrent-website-shuts-down.html|title=ExtraTorrent website shuts down|date=2017-05-19|website=The Asian Age|access-date=2019-06-01|archive-date=2019-06-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190601095355/https://www.asianage.com/technology/in-other-news/180517/extratorrent-website-shuts-down.html|url-status=live}}
In November 2016, the website celebrated its 10-year anniversary. The website briefly changed their logo with a celebratory theme and launched a contest for users to guess the most downloaded movies on the site in exchange for prizes.{{Cite web|url=https://torrentfreak.com/torrent-icon-extratorrent-turns-ten-years-old-today-161115/|title=Torrent Icon ExtraTorrent Turns Ten Years old Today|date=2016-11-15|website=TorrentFreak|language=en|access-date=2019-06-01|archive-date=2019-06-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190601095353/https://torrentfreak.com/torrent-icon-extratorrent-turns-ten-years-old-today-161115/|url-status=live}}
=Shutdown=
File:ExtraTorrent has shut down.png
On 17 May 2017, ExtraTorrent voluntarily ceased operations out of the blue. The entire website was replaced with a message from the administrator, stating that the website was to shut down permanently (as well as all mirror domains), and wipe all data relating to the website and its content.{{Cite web|url=https://torrentfreak.com/extratorrent-shuts-down-for-good-170517/|title=ExtraTorrent Shuts Down For Good|date=2017-05-17|website=TorrentFreak|language=en|access-date=2020-10-29|archive-date=2020-10-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201029234353/https://torrentfreak.com/extratorrent-shuts-down-for-good-170517/|url-status=live}} The website was already down for days due to an emergency maintenance situation, just two days before the website shut down permanently.{{Cite web|url=https://torrentfreak.com/extratorrent-suffers-extended-downtime-170515/|title=ExtraTorrent Suffers Extended Downtime (Updated)|date=2017-05-15|website=TorrentFreak|language=en|access-date=2019-06-01|archive-date=2019-06-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190601095353/https://torrentfreak.com/extratorrent-suffers-extended-downtime-170515/|url-status=live}}
At the time of its shutdown, ExtraTorrent's primary domain name was the 291st most viewed website globally, according to statistics from Alexa Internet.{{Cite web|url=http://alexa.com/siteinfo/extratorrent.cc|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170517103228/http://alexa.com/siteinfo/extratorrent.cc|url-status=dead|archive-date=2017-05-17|title=Extratorrent.cc Traffic, Demographics and Competitors - Alexa|date=2017-05-17|access-date=2019-06-01}}
Clones
Shortly after the shutdown of the official ExtraTorrent website, multiple clones and imitations appeared online.{{Cite web|url=https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/science-technology/810254/ExtraTorrent-CC-Proxy-Mirror-Back|title=ExtraTorrent is BACK, but you might not want to trust the return of this torrent site|last=Brown|first=Aaron|date=2017-05-31|website=Express.co.uk|language=en|access-date=2019-06-01|archive-date=2019-06-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190601095353/https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/science-technology/810254/ExtraTorrent-CC-Proxy-Mirror-Back|url-status=live}} Initially, the most popular one of these clones was located at extratorrent.cd. While this was at first speculated to be an official rehosting,{{Cite web|url=https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2017/05/22/pristine-copy-extratorrent-cc-online/|title=A Week After Its Death, Extratorrent Is Back Online (Updated)|date=2017-05-22|website=Digital Music News|language=en-US|access-date=2019-06-01|archive-date=2020-09-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200922161343/https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2017/05/22/pristine-copy-extratorrent-cc-online/|url-status=live}} it was later discovered to be a re-skinned of The Pirate Bay, serving exact information from their database, under an ExtraTorrent interface.{{Cite web|url=https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2017/05/25/extratorrent-the-pirate-bay-clone/|title='Resurrected' Extratorrent Site Turns Out to Be a Scam...|date=2017-05-25|website=Digital Music News|language=en-US|access-date=2019-06-01|archive-date=2020-09-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200922161237/https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2017/05/25/extratorrent-the-pirate-bay-clone/|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=https://fossbytes.com/extratorrent-still-dead-copycat-tpb-mirror/|title=Extratorrent Is Still Dead — Don't Fall For Copycats And The Pirate Bay Mirrors Like Extratorrent.cd|last=Tiwari|first=Aditya|date=2017-05-24|website=Fossbytes|language=en-US|access-date=2019-06-01|archive-date=2019-06-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190601095353/https://fossbytes.com/extratorrent-still-dead-copycat-tpb-mirror/|url-status=live}} Despite this however, the website still quickly gained a large userbase, reaching two million unique visitors in May 2017.{{Cite web|url=https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2017/06/06/extratorrent-cd-millions-visitors/|title=Extratorrent Clone Extratorrent.cd Is Approaching 10 Million Visitors|date=2017-06-06|website=Digital Music News|language=en-US|access-date=2019-06-01|archive-date=2020-09-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200922185127/https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2017/06/06/extratorrent-cd-millions-visitors/|url-status=live}} To date, there are no new "official" ExtraTorrent mirrors as the database for the original was wiped during its shutdown in 2017.{{Cite web|url=https://torrentfreak.com/no-extratorrent-has-not-been-resurected-170524/|title=No, ExtraTorrent Has Not Been Resurrected|date=2017-05-24|website=TorrentFreak|language=en|access-date=2019-06-01|archive-date=2019-06-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190601095353/https://torrentfreak.com/no-extratorrent-has-not-been-resurected-170524/|url-status=live}} The site was blocked in Spain in 2019, with the blocking of other similar websites such as Lime Torrents and 1337x.{{Cite web|url=https://torrentfreak.com/court-orders-1337x-limetorrents-and-more-blocked-in-spain-190131/|title=Court Orders 1337x, LimeTorrents, and More Blocked in Spain|date=2019-01-31|website=TorrentFreak|language=en|access-date=2019-06-01|archive-date=2019-06-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190601095353/https://torrentfreak.com/court-orders-1337x-limetorrents-and-more-blocked-in-spain-190131/|url-status=live}}
References
{{BitTorrent}}
{{Intellectual property activism}}
Category:File sharing networks
Category:Defunct BitTorrent websites