Skip to main content

Windows Live Messenger blocking links to The Pirate Bay

Windows Live Messenger blocking links to The Pirate Bay

/

If you're a Windows Live Messenger user who happens to drop your friends links to The Pirate Bay, it looks like you'll have to use another chat service. At this moment, links to The Pirate Bay are blocked when trying to send them through Windows Live Messenger.

Share this story

The Pirate Bay (Padded for 3:2)
The Pirate Bay (Padded for 3:2)

If you're a Windows Live Messenger user who happens to drop your friends links to The Pirate Bay, it looks like you'll have to use another chat service. At this moment, links to The Pirate Bay are blocked when trying to send them through Windows Live Messenger — the service spits back an automated reply reading "the link you tried to send was blocked because it was reported as unsafe." This occurs when using Microsoft's native clients as well as when trying to send through third-party tools like Adium or Pidgin. It doesn't appear to be part of any "anti-piracy" initiative, however — links to sites like Demonoid worked without incident. Given the fact that The Pirate Bay is crawling with all manner of seedy advertising banners, it's entirely possible the site was blocked to steer visitors away from malware. Still, we'd prefer to make that determination ourselves, not have Microsoft make it for us.