YNOT – IndustryGuardian, a division of adult-industry anti-piracy company Porn Guardian, last week removed from the web a sophisticated file-sharing blog. IndustryGuardian is a membership-based service that proactively seeks to thwart illegal file trading.

After monitoring the blog’s activities for several months, IndustryGuardian personnel convinced the blogger’s file-sharing hosts that in order to maintain their “safe harbor” status under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, they needed to close the blogger’s affiliate accounts and permanently block access to all of the uploaded files. With the help of the hosts, a thorough takedown was completed within 36 hours.

“Porn Guardian is seeking support from all content producers to be part of our IndustryGuardian program,” said partner Peter Phinney. “We’re offering an opportunity for the industry to come together and present a united anti-piracy front. The cost of participation is minimal, and the outcomes are dramatic.”

For $150 a year, members are included in proactive raids undertaken by the company. Members also receive quarterly updates and information that will help them combat piracy on their own sites.

Porn Guardian was chosen to become part of the Free Speech Coalition’s Anti-Piracy Action Program. The company is a Gold Sponsor of the 2011 Phoenix Forum, and plans to unveil complete details of IndustryGuardian during the forum.

“The power we gain by working together to fight piracy is necessary if we want to have a chance of winning this war,” said partner Dominic Ford.

Porn Guardian clients receive 24/7 piracy protection, a state-of-the-art reporting interface, evidence-gathering and automatic enrollment in the IndustryGuardian initiative.