Private membership torrent tracker UKNova, a community entirely devoted to UK television programming, has been voluntarily closed by the proprietors. One of the older torrent trackers on the Internet, UKNova launched in 2004 as a place where British expats could get their fix of soap operas like Coronation Street and EastEnders, football matches and BBC comedy.

UKNova has long had the reputation as an “ethical” torrent tracker, bending over backwards not to encourage digital piracy. Torrents expired there after 30 days and anything out on DVD was prohibited, or immediately removed once a DVD release was even announced.

Since last week, the following message has greeted members when they’ve logged on:

To the members of UKNova.

UKNova is being forced to change. We have been issued with a “cease and desist” order by FACT (The Federation Against Copyright Theft).

Despite our efforts to cooperate with the UK media companies, FACT have stated: “ALL links or access to content provided by UKNova are infringing, unless it can be proven that explicit permission from the copyright holder for that content has been obtained”.

Whilst we believe that they are wrong both legally and morally on account of the strong ‘no commercial content’ stance that we have always taken, we are not in a position to be able to risk lengthy and costly court battles to prove this. Therefore we have no other option but to close down the trackers. It has not been an easy decision to take, but it is apparently our only option.

The forums will remain open for business as usual. Torrents and their associated pages will disappear over the next few hours.

Our heartfelt thanks go to all, past and present, who have worked tirelessly, often thanklessly, for the good of our community.

Memo to BBC: If your iPlayer was on offer in the US of A, I would happily pay $5 a month for the pleasure. Just sayin’.