BTjunkie, one of the largest torrent file-sharing sites, shut down voluntarily over the weekend. The service ranked among the top five torrent sites on the Internet and was never involved in legal action, but recent moves against the likes of MegaUpload and The Pirate Bay have influenced BTjunkie's closure.

"This is the end of the line my friends," reads a short message from BTjunkie owner, now visible on the site. "The decision does not come easy, but we've decided to voluntarily shut down. We've been fighting for years for your right to communicate, but it's time to move on. It's been an experience of a lifetime, we wish you all the best," the message says. -[PC World]

In related news, prison sentences were recently made final for Pirate Bay founders Fredrik Neij, Peter Sunde, and Carl Lundström after being denied appeals to the Swedish Supreme Court.

Almost one year after authorities shut down the private torrent tracker OiNK, the site's administrators and a few alleged uploaders have been charged, putting an end to the year-long investigation.

Alan Ellis, the administrator, was charged with "conspiracy to defraud" and the uploaders were charged with copyright infringement for the unauthorized upload of one CD. [After Dawn]

"In other semi-related news, a 26 year old man was sentenced today to 18 months in prison, three years of supervised release and a $20,000 fine for his work on the site EliteTorrents - looks like it's a bad week for torrent site admins." [TechSpot]