curl "http://extratorrnet.cc/announce?info_hash=%00%01...&peer_id=-qB0000...&port=6881&uploaded=0&downloaded=0&left=0&event=started"
That was it. The torrent file, likely created years ago and re-uploaded to modern sites, still contained a dead tracker from the Extratorrent era. Some clever operator had bought the domain extratorrnet.cc and set up a lightweight, always-on announce proxy. Their server listened for scrape and announce requests, pretended to be the old Extratorrent tracker, and responded with a standard "peers list" — which was likely empty or synthetic. extratorrnet.cc proxy
But why? What was the purpose?
Intrigued, I decided to investigate. I found the same torrent, added it to a fresh, isolated virtual machine, and watched. curl "http://extratorrnet
d8:completei0e10:incompletei0e5:peersle