Update : Owls who stayed up late last night informed us that this suspension only involved a single Web Hosting company, and trackers hosted on its servers. The last i checked, there isn't a  definitive provision on the Malaysian Copyright Act with regards to hosting of bittorent trackers. The Malaysia Copyright Act 1987 was last ammended in 1997, and came into force in April 1999.

[ Exclusive via TorrentFreak ]

Reports are coming in that the government in Malaysia has ordered the immediate suspension of many BitTorrent trackers hosted in the country. In a shock move, the government - citing the ‘Copyright Act 1987′ - has ordered hosts to suspend servers hosting BitTorrent sites, pending an investigation. Many sites are offline.

When BitTorrent sites get into legal trouble or other pressures force a move to a new location, the speculation begins on the safest place to go.

For instance, would a site bail out of the Netherlands and move to Canada? Is Canada too dangerous now, and would a move to Sweden be more appropriate? What about moving to Ukraine-based hosting like Demonoid or further afield - China or Russia maybe? Inevitably, discussions usually involve ideas of moving sites east, to countries like Malaysia. Fairly high-tech countries like this seem an attractive proposition, particularly given their government’s track-record in failing to do much about piracy.

Given this background, BitTorrent tracker admins with their sites hosted in Malaysia were confronted by a very unpleasant surprise today. An administrator from a well known tracker contacted TorrentFreak this morning with worrying news, he told us: “Malaysia’s government suddenly forced all torrent websites to shut down today until further notice, a complete surprise to torrent admins and the offshore hosting companies in Malaysia.”

The news was given to this and other site admins, via an email from the hosting provider, which indicates the action has been ordered down from a high level. The email informs the admins that their servers have been suspended by the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs, under the Copyright Act 1987. As the request came from the government, the host makes it clear they had no choice but to shut down the site. Among the affected sites are Extremebits, Rapthe, Superfundo and several others. According to sources, although torrent sites have been taken offline, other sites dealing in pirate material have also been suspended after the government decided to act on mounting copyright-related complaints.

Prominent Malaysian host Shinjiru confirmed the closures, telling TorrentFreak: “We can confirm that this is accurate. We had enforcement officers from MDTCA visiting the office to confirm the closure of BitTorrent sites hosted on our network. We will comply to all shut down instructions from the local authorities or agencies with warrants or documents.”

Name: fin	Comment: torrent block..hurmm..lotsa more alternative nowadays laa..try laa rapidshare more faster, in malaysia also already got official rapidshare seller..go rapidshare website to see it :D, dang..miss my JAV's torrents lolz!
Rated Article: Posted: 2008-08-06 00:46:19

Name: Luthien	Comment: Seriously, I'd think there're more pressing issues to take up on? Like the hike in prices of practically everything except for our salary? There's no use in making our country look good by banning torrent sites hosting if the citizens themselves think poorly of their government's domestic issues control.
Rated Article: Posted: 2008-08-02 11:05:13

Name: pengiranijam	Comment: To me, Blocking torrent is not good, since, nowday, big files, shared as torrent files. So, this definite as not good, because torrent is not illegel to shared as long contains does legal shared one. Internet shrink @.@
Rated Article: Posted: 2008-07-29 15:47:53

Name: Local Resident	Comment: 1 day no more p2p sharing isn t good if no more internet only for local this best for our gov
Rated Article: Posted: 2008-07-27 15:50:20

Name: sukasuki	Comment: if the govmen wants to banned the torrent sites, can't we just use the alternative way to download say like rapidshare or meganova?????
Rated Article: Posted: 2008-07-15 21:10:02

Name: CL

Comment: Tak heranlah...M'sians should use broadband for more meaningful purposes...patutlah even some English programmes had to be dubbed in BM or Mandarin cos activities like this are applying immense downward pressure on the value of English/foreign language shows to the broadcast industry. If we cannot let the investors make the best decisions for themselves (and balance that with ours) den how? My 2 sen

Rated Article: Posted: 2008-07-09 10:37:49

Name: Nin Nin	Comment: genuine/original=too expensive pirate=torrents well...in the end,support piracy,not genuine
Rated Article: Posted: 2008-06-29 23:03:30

Name: miczee

Comment: I am writing so that the general public knows of the plight i am going through.As of 27th of june 2008 the IPs of certain servers has been taken off or blocked as a directive from the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs. However in this process of discouraging the illegal downloads through p2p servers. I have NOT been able to download a particular LEGAL software that i have purchased on 22nd JUNE completely as my download stopped at 67% on the 27th of June.The problem has not just stopped there, as i found out that the software updates for some of my other programs have also been blocked due to the current exercise!!! I have written to the companies involved and their IT teams have given me alternate means namely a HTTP download which also does not work as the IP address is almost similiar to the p2p servers. Obviously this recent directive has been conceived my some ignorant buerocrat who has VERY shallow knowledge of how the internet works today. P2P IS the method of use( Legally used) by many companies to enable their customers to download BIG/HUGE programs and even updates for already purchased softwares. The current dilemma is costing me time and money to rectify ,if it is even possible to do so as not many companies host their servers on multiple continents !!! I hope the right person in the right position in the ministry is able to see this before real problems starts. Quoting the copyrights act of 1987 is a poor reference which will definitely NOT hold up in the court of law as it definitely does not have definite provisions to allow for such indiscriminate blanket ban of these IPs in the name of blocking torrent trackers/sites.

Rated Article: Posted: 2008-06-29 18:35:34

Name: bug	Comment: a crackdown on torrent servers doesnt mean that they are destroying the p2p community. we will still find alternatives, like those sites will get transfered to other countries. no big deal yet
Rated Article: Posted: 2008-06-29 12:11:45

Name: pistoncup	Comment: they should go for companies and gov agencies that r using pirated software... not poor ppl like us
Rated Article: Posted: 2008-06-29 06:23:34

Name: yeapy	Comment: I will terminate streamyx account immediately if they block torrent, use the RM 110 per month on pirate, save electricity also.
Rated Article: Posted: 2008-06-28 23:21:44

Name: karl	Comment: damn...apa lagi yg di block after dis?
Rated Article: Posted: 2008-06-28 15:30:20

Name: Thrust	Comment: Damn! Our government is really tackling on the wrong issue here. They should be dealing with more important issues rather than to block torrent sites!! Deal with INFLATION 1st, that's should be the first priority!!
Rated Article: Posted: 2008-06-28 14:41:41

Name: Kickass	Comment: Im sure this is becoz astro company complain the drop of their sales...
Rated Article: Posted: 2008-06-28 11:43:21

Name: chunkofmeat

Comment: So this means that torrent handlers have come to an end in Msia? Which also means that no more downloading using torrents? You know, I'm NOT trying to be political or anything here, but I'm more and more convinced by the hours that the government wants to make things as difficult for every single soul in this country as possible before they leave as the ruling party. I really do hope that the technology sector in this country will continue to persevere and advance. Way to go LowYat!

Rated Article: Posted: 2008-06-28 11:28:18

Name: pittymalaysian

Comment: So now young generation, what you gonna do? Nothing, just sit on your sofa and continue to blame on this and that. Try to make a change, our last generation fail to do so didn't mean we'll follow the same path. http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/news/88221 http://torrentfreak.com/the-human-bittorrent-swarm/ I know people will just have a laugh and say it's like this, get use to it. "itsfunny" you're right, first oil then now torrent, what's next? Don't worry malaysian, is the lovely leader you choose to have. Love it with all of your heart.

Rated Article: Posted: 2008-06-28 11:23:48

Name: Chipsmunk	Comment: hahaha ... to bad to us . what we can do anymore . but to all kaki sedut we can find alternatif ways to sedut . but not same like torrent . tah per per kan !
Rated Article: Posted: 2008-06-28 11:12:08

Name: itsfunny

Comment: Now our internet users losing more 'happy' functions.. Original,genuine copy of optical disks are so expensive.With current situation- Prices of oil, needs and variables type of goods rising up, we can't afford to get entertainment with average RM400-RM1000 income per month. Taxes,etc rises up. Original DVD games would cost rm100-rm300. That's almost same as gas-station worker's salary! This won't stop piracy either. The rightful contents of media shouldn't be distributed easily with peoples knowing that piracy stuffs are easy to find through torrent sites. As the medias become hard to find,peoples getting more interested to buy the 'rare stuff' from pasar malam. And streamyx, don't dream serving us with the 10mbps internet speed. No one would subscribe it, Unless to those who aren't sure where to waste their money off.

Rated Article: Posted: 2008-06-28 04:10:33

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