You may have already come across DonTorrent — an illegal Spanish-language download site — in the middle of Google results. Our TorrentFreak colleagues report a rather funny story: the site has, for some time, been in the crosshairs of the American Cinema Editors (ACE) and the Motion Picture Association (MPA), two of the largest U.S. rightholders’ associations.
The latter have already formally notified Cloudflare to provide them with all the data available on the site and its administrators. Actions that appear to have been reported to DonTorrent officials since the site has had legal notices in recent weeks that are surprising to say the least. We can read in Spanish: “this website belongs to Jan van Voom, domiciled…” followed by the address of the MPA offices, a professional email address and phone number.
When an illegal download site “appoints” an MPA official as head…
Because in reality Jan van Voom is nothing less than one of the administrators of the MPA, the biggest threat to the site! However, it’s hard to say whether this prank is really a good idea. With the addition of this page, the site appears more easily in search results related to the MPA and Jan van Voom, increasing the visibility of this site which is already the target of the wrath of rights holders with the authorities and internet users sensitive to the struggle against piracy…
© Lemon Press
Our TorrentFreak colleagues attempted to learn more about this new legal notice page by contacting accounts that appeared to be linked to the site, unsuccessfully. DonTorrent will continue to operate with impunity for the time being. However, the situation can change very quickly. Indeed, about two weeks ago, MPA CEO Charles Rivkin met with the Director General of the Spanish Police, who was already deeply committed to illegal downloading.
Also read – Download illegally… three major blocked pirate sites just changed their addresses
The latter apparently assured him of the support of the Spanish authorities in the fight against piracy. Not knowing the exact content of their interview, Charles Rivkin revealed on Twitter what Francisco Pardo Piqueras told him about this phenomenon:
“General Manager Francisco Pardo Piqueras told me today that the film, television and streaming industry absolutely needs to be protected from piracy (especially in these difficult times) because it ‘creates dreams, inspires hope, makes people happy and that… that’s magic’ I don’t agree anymore”noted Charles Rivkin.
†@PoliceDirector General Francisco Pardo Piqueras told me today that the movie/TV/streaming industry needs to be protected from piracy (especially in these difficult times) because it “creates dreams, hopes and happiness, and that… is magic.
I couldn’t agree more. pic.twitter.com/h4sskBGGoN— Charles H. Rivkin (@CharlieRivkin) March 17, 2022
