BTjunkie.org, was a popular website that was founded in 2005, with the mission of indexing BitTorrent files for all kinds of legal an illegal content and it is now throwing in the towel. The site now reads“This is the end of the line my friends. The decision does not come easy, but we’ve decided to voluntarily shut down. We’ve been fighting for years for your right to communicate, but it’s time to move on. It’s been an experience of a lifetime, we wish you all the best!” ;

BitTorrent is a file-sharing protocol with which users are allowed to upload and download files directly from one another. BTJunkie and sites like it (torrentz.com, for example) do not host infringing content on their own servers, they simply track and index the torrent files that allow users to connect and share content. This is, of course, a bane in the life of copyright holders, who claim that BitTorrent sites are the enablers of the whole sector of copyright infringement.

There is no explanation given on BTjunkie’s site as to why it is shutting down but in an interview with TorrentFreak, BTJunkie’s founder – who remains anonymous – has said that recent legal actions against Megaupload and The Pirate Bay had a huge role in his decision.

Megaupload was shut down last month b U.S authorities. They additionally charged its founder, Kim Dotcom, and several other associates with criminal copyright infringement.

The Pirate Bay’s founders lost their final appeal last week in a lengthy copyright battle. They are now facing time in jail and a collective $6.7 million in fines.

The fact that BTjunkie closed down seems to validate the argument that heavy-handed anti-piracy laws, such as SOPA and PIPA are completely unnecessary. Rights holders are getting results by working with the U.S government and overseas agencies to arrest these site operators, after all. This action, intimidates other sites into shutting down, and as they influence each other, this will no doubt have a domino effect.

(Filesonic, after the feds had shuttered Megaupload, had voluntarily disabled all sharing functionality)

But when you take a look at it from another perspective, BitTorrent file-sharing is alive and well despite all of these closures.  Sites that have faced legal troubles, including The Pirate Bay and IsoHunt, continue to operate alongside Torrentz, ExtraTorrent, Demonoid and others.The entertainment industry will no doubt point to these sites as evidence that Congress still needs to pass some kind of anti-piracy legislation but when demand and monetary gain from said demand exceed the price-tags put on copyright infringements, BitTorrent file-sharing will stay right on track.