TorrentSpy Closes Doors to US Users

Saying it wants to protect user privacy, TorrentSpy said Monday that it will no longer allow visitors from the United States to use the site. The BitTorrent search engine's servers are located in the Netherlands, and it falls under the jurisdiction of the European Union, as do the copyright laws that govern it.

The decision to ban US users from the site was not due to any compulsion from the courts, it assured. "Rather it arises out of an uncertain legal climate in the United States regarding user privacy and the apparent tension between US and European Union Internet privacy laws," the company said.