Another file-hosting site popular with pirates has bitten the dust. According to the Vietnamese government the operators of Ryushare were arrested for distributing "depraved culture", a reference to adult-related material. Reports from authorities say the site, which at its peak last year got close to breaking into the Alexa 500, generated profits of $6.2m.

There are many hundreds, probably thousands, of file-hosting sites online, each serving their own area of the market. One only has to watch discussion on so-called warez forums to discover which ones are popular with pirates.

Ryushare was one such site. Whether its operators deliberately influenced that is up for debate, but healthy affiliate and rewards programs certainly made it more attractive than similar sites without them. The site grew steeply in the latter half of 2012, peaking near the Alexa 500 at the turn of 2013.

But while the mere existence of a reward program doesn’t signal a breach of the law, Ryushare clearly had other legal problems. Earlier this month the site completely disappeared alongside reports that its operators had been arrested.

This weekend a more detailed report from the Vietnamese government stated that police had shut down an operation dedicated to the illegal distribution of pornography.

According to the report, Nguyen Duc Nhat, the Vietnamese owner of Ryushare, was arrested along with three others. This led to the shutdown of the site which according to police had been operating 500 overseas servers.

The alleged operators of Ryushare

Authorities say that during its lifetime Ryushare generated profits of 132,000,000,000 Vietnamese dong, or $6.2 million for those who prefer less zeros.

During the course of the arrests, police say they seized two cars, three motorcycles, five laptops and five accounts containing around $355,000.

The Ryushare site remains offline and rumors of a resurrection have yet to come true. Authorities say the investigation continues.