hdclub HDClub, Russia’s Leading HD-Only Torrent Site, Permanently Shuts Down

[Reefa]

Quote

After more than a decade online, HDClub, Russia's leading HD & 3D torrent site, has permanently shut down. With around 170,000 users, HDClub was known for high-quality releases that often leaked to sites like The Pirate Bay. However, its operators say that continual complaints from rightsholders, third-party attacks, and the demise of hardcore enthusiasts, mean the end of the site.

 

 

While millions of users frequent popular public torrent sites such as The Pirate Bay and RARBG every day, there’s a thriving scene that’s hidden from the wider public eye.

 

Every week, private torrent trackers cater to dozens of millions of BitTorrent users who have taken the time and effort to gain access to these more secretive communities. Often labeled as elitist and running counter to the broad sharing ethos that made file-sharing the beast it is today, private sites pride themselves on quality, order and speed, something public sites typically struggle to match.

 

In addition to these notable qualities, many private sites choose to focus on a particular niche. There are sites dedicated to obscure electronic music, comedy, and even magic, but HDClub’s focus was given away by its name.

 

Dubbing itself “The HighDefinition BitTorrent Community”, HDClub specialized in HD productions including Blu-ray and 3D content, covering movies, TV shows, music videos, and animation.

 

Born in 2007, HDClub celebrated its ninth birthday on March 9 last year, with 2017 heralding a full decade online for the site. Catering mainly to the Russian and Ukrainian markets, the site’s releases often preserved an English audio option, ideal for those looking for high-quality releases from an unorthodox source at decent speeds.

 

Of course, HDClub releases often leaked out of the site, meaning that thousands are still available on regular public trackers, as a search on any Western torrent engine reveals.

 

A sample of HDClub releases listed on Torrentz2

 

 

Importantly, the site offered thousands of releases completely unavailable in Russia from licensed sources, meaning it filled a niche in which official outlets either wouldn’t or couldn’t compete. This earned itself a place in Russia’s Top 1000 sites list, despite being a closed membership platform.

 

The site’s attention to detail and focus earned it a considerable following. For the past few years the site capped membership at 190,000 people but in practice, attendance floated around the 170,000 mark. Seeders peaked at approximately 400,000 with leechers considerably less, making seeding as difficult as one might expect on a ratio-based tracker.

 

Now, however, the decade-long run of HDClub has come to an abrupt end. Early this week the tracker went dark, reportedly without advance notice. A Russian language announcement now present on its main page explains the reasons for the site’s demise.

 

“Recently, we received several dozens of complaints from rightsholders weekly, and our community is subjected to attacks and espionage,” the announcement reads.

 

While public torrent sites are always bombarded with DMCA-style notices, private sites tend to avoid large numbers of complaints. In this case, however, HDClub were clearly feeling the pressure. The site’s main page was open to the public while featuring popular releases, so this probably didn’t help with the load.

 

It’s not clear what is meant by “attacks and espionage” but it’s possibly a reference to DDoS assaults and third-parties attempting to monitor the site. Nevertheless, as HDClub points out, the climate for torrent, streaming, and similar sites has become increasingly hostile in the region recently.

 

“In parallel, there is a tightening of Internet legislation in Russia, Ukraine and EU countries,” the site says.

 

Interestingly, the site’s operators also suggest that interest from some quarters had waned, noting that “the time of enthusiasts irretrievably goes away.” It’s unclear whether that’s a reference to site users, the site’s operators, or indeed both. But in any event, any significant decline in any area can prove fatal,particularly when other pressures are at play.

 

“In the circumstances, we can no longer support the work of the club in the originally conceived format. The project is closed, but we ask you to refrain from long farewells. Thank you all and goodbye!” the message concludes.

 

Interestingly, the site ends with a little teaser, which may indicate some hope for the future.

 

“There are talks on preserving the heritage of the club,” it reads, without adding further details.

Possibly stay tuned…..

  torrentfreak

 

[knowledge-Spammer]

stay tuned

[IronY-Man]

Man, I love RUS-P2P sites because of the abundant content and its always wellseeded.

to see one gone down !!

 

[pc71520]

[911]

Sad day

[arvens]

One of the best torrent sites for me !!! :(  So sad BEST Blu-ray CEE source !!!

 

My be someone have invite for chdbits ??? be happy !!!  

 

[steven36]

On 9/1/2017 at 5:00 PM, arvens said:

One of the best torrent sites for me !!! :(  So sad BEST Blu-ray CEE source !!!

 

My be someone have invite for chdbits ??? be happy !!!  

 

Try Bluebird  it's still running and is open signup . chdbits is nothing like hdclub was  there very strict  and are  invite only  for someone that have capped internet or low speeds it's hard too be a member there .

[nIGHT]

On 8/31/2017 at 4:41 AM, Reefa said:

The site’s attention to detail and focus earned it a considerable following. For the past few years the site capped membership at 190,000 people but in practice, attendance floated around the 170,000 mark. Seeders peaked at approximately 400,000 with leechers considerably less, making seeding as difficult as one might expect on a ratio-based tracker.

That's right! 

This is the main reason why private torrents, and even public torrents, will have difficulty maintaining balance.

The problem is not limited to torrent filesharing but also in emule(gnutella or edonkey2000) filesharing.

Maintaining balance here is concerned with many factors:

- initial seeding (reward)

- seeding (reward)

- leeching (penalty)

- availability (waiting for leechers to increase your ratio,  few seeders  or no seeders at all)(torrents major dilemma is how to keep files alive for long)

- download speed relative to the user bandwidth (this is where emule fails as it forcibly maintains ratio for one to download files faster)

- how easier to get content with than with other means (search feature in the software or in torrent sites)(private sites make content harder to attain for the many)

- high speed internet leeching on low speed seeding (ouch!)

- how easy for users to use the software (emule's major negative trait)

- handling of fake contents (emule's lack of feedback/comment moderation based on the content's reliability and uploader's trustworthiness is where torrent sites are really good at)

- puppet gov't for copyright trolls continued surveillance on torrent site, trackers and IP's (damn! lawsuits)

- ramification (to categorize downloads.)

- trackers, serverlist or DHT (not being able to connect to these means less access to sources)

 

 

 

 

 

 

[gipsy]

all u need in HD u can download from here

or here in HEVC

for download from HEVC club u should  be registered