I know What You Downloaded On BitTorrent. Wait. Did I read that right? Yes, you did! A website tool – which is being dubbed with a strange name – “I Know What You Downloaded on BitTorrent (IKWDB)” is out there on the internet that knows who has downloaded movies, songs or other media on the BitTorrent without using Virtual Private Network (VPN). The tool knows everything about millions of IP address of users who have accessed files using BitTorrent. Shocking?!!
Why In The World Did IKWDB Come Into Existence?
It looks like the main reason why IKWDB came into existence has got to do with copyright violations. The developers of the tool want to help original content creators and other organizations including movie production houses to understand how pirate content gets accessed. IKWDB also serves to act on public’s request to take down a video/media that’s extremely offensive or inappropriate or illegal. For example, a girl reached out to IKWDB to take down her sexually explicit video. IKWDB immediately responded by making the video inaccessible to the general public.
Speaking about the new tool, Andrey Rogov, Marketing director, IKWDB had this to say – “We’ve set up the site for promotional purposes and as a demonstration of our capabilities. We are engaged in the distribution of information relating to torrent downloading activity to rightsholders, advertising platforms, law-enforcement and international organisations.” This tool has captured over 70 million unique IP address in a span of just one month. It also has information on over 400,000 torrents, which brings us to the one question that’s on your mind right now – should I start worrying?
Should I Start Worrying?
That’s a good question. In fact, this is the only question on the minds of all people in the torrenting community. If you haven’t used VPN, your IP address is now in the public domain. So there’s a possibility that you will get a notice from the original content creators for violation of copyright laws. But many are speculating that BitTorrent users will not face any legal action. At the most, they may be greeted with a warning message that explicitly warns them of not using Torrents for accessing media and other copyright content. However, the course of action by copyright owners is not clear at this point in time.
Are you aware of this tool? If yes, what are your thoughts on how the tool is likely to affect torrenting websites and torrent users? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section.