Some time ago The Pirate Bay decided to not host torrent files anymore. Today the web site decided to make "Magnet links" the default option for the Download buttons, instead of the .torrent files. "We've just changed places on the links. Magnet is now default, Download torrent is now where the magnet links used to be," the popular torrent tracker said in a blog post. "The reason is the same as always: Magnets are now good enough to use, and it's not as easy to block as .torrent files. Also it saves us a huge amount of bandwidth."

Switching to the so-called "Magnet links" will make little difference to the users of the web site. Users will still be able to download files, but these will now be started through a magnet link instead of a .torrent file.

One of the potential downsides of using magnets is that it could take a bit longer for downloads to start, especially if there are relatively few people sharing a file. This is because the .torrent file has to be fetched from other users instead of being downloaded directly from the site.

All mainstream BitTorrent clients support magnet links.

A Dutch court Wednesday ordered two Internet providers to block their clients from accessing The Pirate Bay, citing copyright concerns.