DNS redirects tracker.thepiratebay.org to 127.0.0.1 [closed]

Question

I tried pinging "tracker.thepiratebay.org" and for some reason the DNS returns 127.0.0.1 I get 0% packet loss, but, obviously, it isn't going to the correct website.

My college uses a local DNS server, but I don't think that's where the problem is, since I asked a friend outside my college, and he reported the same results.

Can someone verify this result? And if yes, is there a reason? Also, can I access the real website somehow? (So, someone who can give me the ip of the website would be appreciated)

(Btw, "http://tracker.thepiratebay.org/announce" is one of the default trackers used by torrents downloaded from The Pirate Bay.)

EDIT: I've tried using the google DNS lookup instead of my own, and that too is returning 127.0.0.1 Can a possible explanation be that the site doesn't exist any more? or would not-existing return some other identifiable result?

Answer 1

From Wikipedia:

The Pirate Bay used to run a tracker, but has since disabled it,
although the website remains as a torrent index.

Also a quick nslookup tracker.thepiratebay.org confirms your problem.

Answer 2

Yes.

It's as simple as doing a whois on thepiratebay.org and you'll get the list of nameservers registered for the domain, (excerpt):

Name Server:NS0.THEPIRATEBAY.ORG
Name Server:NS1.THEPIRATEBAY.ORG
Name Server:NS2.THEPIRATEBAY.ORG
Name Server:NS3.THEPIRATEBAY.ORG
Name Server:NS4.THEPIRATEBAY.ORG

Query one of the responsible nameservers to make sure it's not a faulty configuration on your local machine or your DNS.
192.121.86.162 is the IP of ns0.thepiratebay.org:

dig @192.121.86.162 tracker.thepiratebay.org

@ specifies that dig should do a direct query to the particular server. It's possible to block this, so it might not be absolutely 100% foolproof, but anyway:

; > DiG 9.6-ESV-R4 > @192.121.86.162 tracker.thepiratebay.org
; (1 server found)
;; global options: +cmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER;; QUESTION SECTION:
;tracker.thepiratebay.org.      IN      A

;; ANSWER SECTION:
tracker.thepiratebay.org. 3600  IN      A       127.0.0.1

;; AUTHORITY SECTION:
thepiratebay.org.       86400   IN      NS      ns0.thepiratebay.org.
thepiratebay.org.       86400   IN      NS      ns1.thepiratebay.org.
thepiratebay.org.       86400   IN      NS      ns2.thepiratebay.org.
thepiratebay.org.       86400   IN      NS      ns3.thepiratebay.org.
thepiratebay.org.       86400   IN      NS      ns4.thepiratebay.org.

;; ADDITIONAL SECTION:
ns0.thepiratebay.org.   86400   IN      A       192.121.86.162
ns1.thepiratebay.org.   86400   IN      A       109.201.134.21
ns2.thepiratebay.org.   86400   IN      A       109.201.131.4
ns3.thepiratebay.org.   86400   IN      A       217.75.120.120
ns4.thepiratebay.org.   86400   IN      A       194.71.107.1

;; Query time: 14 msec
;; SERVER: 192.121.86.162#53(192.121.86.162)
;; WHEN: Tue Jan 24 21:00:34 2012
;; MSG SIZE  rcvd: 228

The important part being

tracker.thepiratebay.org. 3600  IN      A       127.0.0.1