Pirate Bay Founders Launch BayFiles

LOS ANGELES — In a move echoing the rehabilitation of Napster, two Pirate Bay founders have joined forces to release BayFiles, a “legal” file-sharing website.

Fredrik Neij and Peter Sunde, two Swedish co-founders of the notorious BitTorrent tracker, Pirate Bay, have reportedly formed the Hong Kong-based BayFiles Limited, to  then launch BayFiles (www.bayfiles.com) — a one-click webhosting service, commonly known as a “cyberlocker” — which has some growing advantages over other systems.

“BitTorrent is increasingly throttled or even filtered by ISPs, HTTP usually is not,” Neij told TorrentFreak. “Storage and transfers on BayFiles also preserve users’ privacy.”

Currently featuring three service tiers where files can be easily uploaded and shared, BayFiles offers unregistered users a free hosting account with 250MB of disk space  —while members can upgrade to 500MB; or for more capacity and less waiting, premium members can have 5GB of disk space, for five euros (around $7) monthly, or 45 euros (about $65) annually.

BayFiles says it offers a legal service because it is compliant with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which provides a mechanism to report unauthorized uploads of copyrighted material and have them removed.

The company adds it seeks to protect privacy and ensure availability, so that uploaded content is available for instantaneous viewing on any platform, with future plans to enhance the BayFiles service offerings into a more robust and richly featured cloud hosting service.

“Another advantage is that users can be sure that content stays up, which is important for personal backups,” Neij added. “It also guarantees that other personal files such as your MP3 collection are always accessible, so users are able to stream it live to any device.”

Once a file is uploaded, users are provided with a direct URL, as well as an HTML formatted link, plus a BB-encoded link for easy forum insertion. Unlike the BitTorrent scheme used by The Pirate Bay, however, only those with access to the link will be able to view or download these uploaded files.

“I suspect what they’re concentrating on is the idea that if it can be shown that they’re infringing or facilitating the infringement of an identifiable copyright work, they will comply with the requirement to notice and take down in time,” Attorney Susan Hall told BBC News. “But if in fact if you’re facilitating other people to infringe copyright, that’s something people will have difficulties bringing procedures about.”

For next generation adult marketers, BayFiles presents a variety of opportunities for serving content and generating traffic; and may find a place in many operators’ tool kits.

Related:  

Copyright © 2025 Adnet Media. All Rights Reserved. XBIZ is a trademark of Adnet Media.
Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission is prohibited.

More News

Adult Networking Platform SpicyGigs.com Launches

SpicyGigs, a new adult industry networking platform, has officially launched.

Pineapple Support to Host 'Cream Pie Challenge' Fundraiser

Pineapple Support is hosting its Cream Pie Challenge through August to raise funds for mental health services for industry performers.

Kyrgyzstan President Signs Measure Outlawing Internet Porn

President Sadyr Japarov of Kyrgyzstan on Tuesday signed into law legislation outlawing online adult content in the country.

NC Legislature Overrides Veto of Extreme Anti-Adult Industry Bill

The North Carolina state legislature on Tuesday voted to override Gov. Josh Stein’s veto of a bill imposing regulations that industry observers have warned could push adult websites and platforms to ban most creators and content.

Report: VPN Downloads Soar in UK Following Age Verification Deadline

Virtual private network apps, which can be used to circumvent geo-specific age verification requirements, are topping Apple App Store downloads in the U.K. in the wake of new Online Safety Act rules, the BBC is reporting.

Strike 3 Holdings Sues Meta for Pirating Vixen Media Group Content to Train AI

Vixen Media Group owner Strike 3 Holdings filed suit in federal court this week, accusing Facebook parent company Meta of copyright infringement and alleging that Meta has extensively pirated VMG content to train its artificial intelligence models.

Pineapple Support, Streamate to Host 'Navigating Grief and Loss' Support Group

Pineapple Support and Streamate are hosting a free online support group to help performers cope with grief and loss.

Friday is Final AV Compliance Deadline in UK

Friday, July 25 marks U.K. media regulator Ofcom’s deadline for user-to-user services such as tube, cam and fan sites to implement its requisite “highly effective age assurance” measures for preventing minors from viewing adult content.

AEBN Publishes Popular Searches for May, June

AEBN has released the top search terms for the months of May and June from its straight and gay theaters in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Ofcom Releases Transparency Reporting Guidelines

Ofcom, the U.K. media regulator, has made public its official guidance detailing how online service providers — including adult sites — will be required to publish annual transparency reports on their efforts to protect children from online harms.

Show More