YouTube to MP3 converter sites blocked in UK but still working in other countries

'Thanks for being a part of us. Goodbye!'

A 3D-printed YouTube icon is seen in front of a displayed YouTube logo in this illustration taken October 25, 2017 (Reuters)

Two major YouTube-ripping sites have stopped working for UK users.

MP3Juices.cc and YtMp3.cc let people convert YouTube videos to mp3 audio files, which they can then download and play whenever they want.

However, they both appear to have been blocked in the UK.

The issue was first spotted by TorrentFreak, which says the sites remain accessible to users in other parts of the world.

For UK-based visitors, both MP3Juices.cc and YtMp3.cc now display a message reading: “This service is no longer available. Thanks for being a part of us. Goodbye!”

The sites were named in a list that the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) recently submitted to the Office of the United States Trade Representative.

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) recently told the Office of the United States Trade Representative that it was “tracking” both of them – along with around 70 similar sites – which it described as some of “the most popular and hence the most damaging” stream-ripping sites on the web.

“These illegal sites violate YouTube’s and other licensed streaming services’ terms of use, and circumvent the technological measures that YouTube and other licensed services employ to prevent copying and distribution of music streamed through their service,” it said.

“These stream ripping sites turn content licensed for streaming into unlicensed free downloads and monetize their infringing activity through advertising. Some estimate that as many as one in three internet users have used a stream-ripping service to illegally acquire music.”

YouTube-MP3.org, a huge stream-ripping site, shut down completely last month, after being taken to court by a coalition of record labels.