( Mashable ) -- The Motion Picture Association of America ( MPAA ) , with the cooperation of Dutch anti-piracy group BREIN , has quietly shuttered 12 torrent websites in the U.S. and at least 39 sites abroad by filing copyright violation complaints with the sites ' hosting providers . The names of the sites themselves remain unknown ; so far , however , the major players seem to be unaffected . The specific URLs are not being released because frequently the affected sites will spring up elsewhere online under a different TLD ( e.g. , TorrentMovies.com becomes TorrentMovies.info ) . Releasing the names of the sites would make it much easier for users to find their new URLs in the future . This news , while interesting and concerning , is a far cry from the 70-plus sites shut down by the Department of Homeland Security last November , the culmination of a brewing crackdown effort . Some torrent and file-sharing sites , including RapidShare , have even taken to hiring lobbyists of their own . A company spokesperson told Mashable recently , `` Given the fact that the U.S. government is currently undertaking great efforts to fight copyright infringements on the internet , our having a voice in Washington could be beneficial for us as well as for the U.S . government . '' According to TorrentFreak , BREIN `` has ( temporarily ) disabled more than 1,000 torrent sites in The Netherlands , and they are now helping the MPAA towards doing the same in the U.S. '' In a BREIN release , the organization stated that it helped the MPAA take down around 29 sites last year ; and earlier this month , it shut down 39 sites in the Netherlands for the MPAA , as well . BREIN also conducts these anti-piracy `` stings '' in 11 other countries , including Germany , France , Britain and Canada . Its director , Tim Kuik , said in the statement ( via Google Translate ) , `` There will be new sites , but we take them down fast so they can not grow . '' © 2013 MASHABLE.com . All rights reserved .
MPAA shuts down one million websites in the U.S. and at least 39 sites abroad . Names of the sites are unknown but major players seem to be unaffected . YouTube and file - sharing sites have even taken to hiring lobbyists .