The UK's aggressive stance towards online piracy was taken to new heights this week through a combination of police threats and backroom deals between industry groups. One of the main targets identified were Pirate Bay proxy sites and TorrentFreak has been informed that the police and FACT recently turned up on the doorstep of one called PirateSniper in the UK. According to a report from the site's owner he was handed a letter and ordered to shutter the site or face criminal action.

It’s been a turbulent week in the UK with regard to anti-piracy initiatives.

It began with Internet provider Sky blocking access to Pirate Bay proxies, then the UK police sent out letters to torrent site owners threatening them with a 10 year prison sentence. This was followed by a backroom discussion between the Government, rightsholders and Google who explored options to de-list infringing sites.

On a smaller scale police and rightsholders carried out actions as well. Cooperating with the anti-piracy group FACT, local police visited the home of a local Pirate Bay proxy operator. While we’ve reported on similar actions against torrent site owners in the past, to our knowledge this is the first time that a proxy has been targeted.

After The Pirate Bay was blocked in the UK last year hundreds of proxies were launched, which are nothing more than a front for the regular Pirate Bay site. Running a proxy requires relatively few resources and one can be put online in a matter of minutes. But despite the easy setup they can also have serious consequences.

TorrentFreak talked to Tom, the operator of the PirateSniper proxy, who says he was visited by the police and anti-piracy group FACT for the second time recently, strengthening a message they delivered earlier.

“Two weeks ago I received a second knock on the door with the police standing on my doorstep. They had another letter and a further warning, ‘demanding’ that I shutdown PirateSniper.net before they take ‘criminal’ action against me,” Tom told TorrentFreak.

Tom was baffled by the surprise visit, to say the least. His proxy site has been active for a few months but has never been advertised and receives virtually no traffic. In addition, the site is not listed in Google’s search results.

“I cannot understand why I am a target. Yes, PirateSniper was recently removed from Google’s indexing list, but I can’t conceive the idea of police at my doorstep. Why?” Tom says.

In a pattern that fits with previous door knockings, the police were mainly there to assist FACT, who did most of the talking. According to Tom, FACT handed over some paperwork along with a warning that he could end up in jail if he continued operating the proxy.

“The police didn’t say much at all, they only asked me to confirm my identity then handed the conversation to a representative of the Federation Against Copyright Theft. It all happened quite suddenly and this time they were a little more aggressive than the first time they came.”

“They threatened me by saying things like ‘You could be sentenced to jail for a minimum of 4 years for the distribution of copyrighted material’. This time they were on a very personal level, not bothering with minor manners and such and just shoving information down my throat without any explanation whatsoever.”

Without receiving an ultimatum, Tom says he was asked to shut down the proxy, or else. The PirateSniper operator has contacted a solicitor and is prepared for the worst. However, the site will remain online for the time being.

“No, this is my stand, we have to show companies that we will not get bullied into doing their bidding. Censorship is like a cancer, we must kill it before it spreads,” Tom says.