system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: How do websites like PirateBay and other illegal websites manage to host their websites?

Couldn't their internet provider and or host shut their website down?
gpt
One major lynch-pin was that these websites did not host illegal content. Rather, they simply allowed people who were hosting it themselves to get together.

Add this to the different laws where the sites were hosted and the fact that the US doesn't have nearly as much power as it thinks it does, and it is very difficult to take these sites down. Since any party would need a valid reason to strike, it hadn't been a strong case in the past since sites like PirateBay didn't host any content. It's a classic case of "we know you're up to no good, but we can't do anything about it."