Prominent semi-private torrent tracker Demonoid is once again showing signs of life, although the website itself remains a lifeless cadaver. What this means for Demonoid is anyone's guess, but during the site's 2009 sabbatical, the website returned just weeks after its tracker was reanimated.
Demonoid, a long-time destination for BitTorrent users, was forcibly shut down several months ago after its Ukrainian host bowed to pressure by European authorities. Just prior to the plug pulling though, Demonoid's admin was already battling a crippling DDoS attack and a vulnerability which was blamed also for potentially damaging the website. However, Demonoid's operator seemed optimistic about resuming service but we've heard little since.
Interestingly, TorrentFreak points out that Demonoid's tracker now seems to originate from Hong Kong instead of Eastern Europe. Is it possible Demonoid has found a new home? Although generally speaking, Asia is rife with copyright violators, a brief look at Hong Kong copyright laws (pdf) reveals a country that doesn't seem particularly inviting to BitTorrent site operators.
Following reports of related arrests in Mexico, Demonoid's .me, .com and .ph domains were up for sale in August, making the chances of a relaunch seem incredibly slim. However, in September, the Demonoid team told TorrentFreak that they were working on getting their email operational after someone noticed a DNS change made to demonoid.me. Although site operators indicated that getting the site back up wasn't on the immediate agenda, they didn't rule it out.
After the tracker came back online, TorrentFreak attempted to contact Demonoid's operators for comment. There has been no response.