LeaseWeb takes Coppersurfer tracker offline after Brein complaint

LeaseWeb has taken the torrent tracker Coppersurfer.tk offline after it received a complaint from Stichting Brein. Coppersurfer states that it operates a ‘neutral’ tracker and that it is looking for a new hosting company.

Coppersurfer.tk is one of the most widely used torrent trackers on the Internet, but the administrators claim that they do not directly link to or host torrent files themselves. Despite this, copyright watchdog Brein has submitted a request to LeaseWeb to remove the torrent tracker from its hosting platform, TorrentFreak reports.

According to Brein, the website links to copyrighted material by means of ‘illegal hashes’, partly because content that can be found on The Pirate Bay uses the Coppersurfer tracker. LeaseWeb has complied with the request and Coppersurfer’s domain is currently reported to have blocked tracker.coppersurfer.tk, as well as a Tor router on the same domain.

Brain does give the administrators a chance. If they agree to block hashes pointing to illegal material and blacklist websites like The Pirate Bay, the copyright watchdog would want to refrain from further action. However, a tracker administrator says it does not intend to respond to Brein’s demands, partly because it is unclear what legal status hashes have. He is therefore looking for a new home with another hosting company.