What.cd

What.CD is an invite only music BitTorrent tracker and community.<ref name="fc1"/> As of June 2010 the site tracks over 800,000 torrents.<ref name="rank" />
History
What.CD was founded on the day of Oink's Pink Palace's closure in October 2007.<ref name="torrentfreak" /> In November 2007 many site users received a hoax email purporting to be from the RIAA threatening to press charges for illegal downloads.<ref name="tf2"/>
In 2008 the Canadian Recording Industry Association asked now-defunct Moxie Colo, then What.CD's host, to take down a number of tracker sites including What.CD. The company refused, saying "We will not be following the request and will be fighting for the rights of our clients as to date laws in Canada protect them."<ref name="crunchgear" /> In October the site released "What.CD Volume 2", a compilation album of artists that contribute to the site. Earlier in the year they had release Volume One.<ref name="gear2" /> In December independent label Open Your Eyes Records partnered with the site to distribute music via the tracker.<ref name="td2" /><ref name="tf3" />
As of June 2009 the site was reported to have 96,000 registered users and was sharing 270,000 albums from 140,000 artists<ref name="usatoday" />
The Radiohead song "These Are My Twisted Words" was added to the tracker on 12 August 2009. Fans speculated that the song had been leaked by the band itself and contained hints to an upcoming EP entitled "Wall of Ice". The song was freely released on 17 August 2009 on the band's website (similar to their release of In Rainbows).<ref name="guardian" /><ref name="pitchfork" />
In 2010 CNET.com reported that a teenage boy had gained access to playMPE.com (an industry website used by music labels to share music with radio stations) by posing as an Australian music critic. He subsequently uploaded a number of unreleased albums to the What.cd tracker.<ref name="cnet1" />
COFEE leak
In 2009 Microsoft's COFEE forensic tool was leaked on the site. The software was later removed by administrators.<ref name="techdirt" /> The What.CD staff said of the removal: "Suddenly, we were forced to take a real look at the program, its source, and the potential impact on the site and security of our users and staff... And when we did, we didn't like what came of it. So, a decision was made. The torrent was removed (and it is not to be uploaded here again)."<ref name="sfgate"/>

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