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Fairfax Underground
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http://money.cnn.com/2016/07/21/technology/kickass-torrent/
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/2996082-Artem-Vaulin-Complaint.html
https://www.change.org/p/https-www-justice-gov-free-artem-vaulin
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov//petition/free-artem-vaulin
Kickass Torrents -- the world's top website for illegally sharing movies, TV shows and music -- has been taken down by the U.S. government.
The website's alleged owner, Artem Vaulin, a 30-year-old Ukrainian man, was arrested in Poland on Wednesday.
The international bust is a massive blow to the online torrent community, where millions of people share copyrighted material without paying for it.
It also shows how American law enforcement is ramping up its efforts to combat copyright infringement.
Governments have been pressured in recent years by entertainment giants -- including Sony Pictures, the Walt Disney Company (DIS), Warner Bros. Entertainment, and Universal Music Group -- to crack down on digital piracy.
In a statement, federal prosecutor Zachary T. Fardon said: "Copyright infringement exacts a large toll, a very human one, on the artists and businesses whose livelihood hinges on their creative inventions."
Online piracy -- essentially copying a digital file and sharing it -- sucks revenue out of media publishing companies, which pay fees to the artists who create the work.
The U.S. government will ask the Polish government to extradite Vaulin to the United States, where he will be prosecuted. He's accused of operating a website that allowed people to share movies, video games, television shows and music worth more than $1 billion.
The primary method of file sharing right now is through something called "torrents." A website like Kickass Torrents provides a searchable list of files available for swapping. Then a separate program, called a BitTorrent client, actually downloads or uploads the file.
Like most torrent websites, Kickass Torrents was forced to change its web address repeatedly to avoid legal entanglements. It operated as KickassTorrents.com, then it moved to website addresses registered in the Philippines, the tiny Polynesian island of Tonga, Somalia, and elsewhere.
Most recently, it was available at kat.cr, a Costa Rican domain.
The cybercrimes unit at the Justice Department's office in Chicago investigated the case. The sealed criminal complaint against Vaulin was filed there on July 8. In the U.S. Department of Homeland Security affidavit supporting the government's case, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement special agent Jared Der-Yeghiayan lists several examples of theft.
He points out how summer blockbuster movies like 2009's "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," 2011's "Captain America: the First Avenger," and 2014's "The Amazing Spiderman 2" all appeared on Kickass Torrents while they were still in theaters.
Although the sharing was free, Kickass Torrents was raking in advertising revenue on its website -- maybe as close as $17 million a year, according to some estimates listed in the agent's affidavit.
Federal agents allegedly identified Vaulin by an online name, tirm. They then used records kept by Apple (AAPL, Tech30) to link the Apple email account tirm@me.com to Vaulin. They also looked into Vaulin's records at Facebook (FB, Tech30).
According to law enforcement, Vaulin posed as the lead engineer of a company called Cryptoneat -- which was really a front company for this massive online piracy operation.
This latest federal takedown focused on the largest torrent site at the moment. But fans of Kickass Torrents are sure to migrate to competing sites like Torrentz, ExtraTorrent, and BitSnoop.
Criminal Complaint:
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/2996082-Artem-Vaulin-Complaint.html
Edited 8 time(s). Last edit at 07/22/2016 07:56AM by Fox News.
Attachments:
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/us-authorities-charge-owner-most-visited-illegal-file-sharing-website-copyright-infringement
U.S. Authorities Charge Owner of Most-Visited Illegal File-Sharing Website with Copyright Infringement
U.S. authorities have charged the alleged owner of today’s most visited illegal file-sharing website with criminal copyright infringement and have seized domain names associated with the website.
Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Zachary T. Fardon of the Northern District of Illinois, Executive Associate Director Peter T. Edge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and Chief Richard Weber of the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) made the announcement.
Artem Vaulin, 30, of Kharkiv, Ukraine, was arrested today in Poland and is charged by criminal complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago, with one count of conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and two counts of criminal copyright infringement. The United States will seek to extradite Vaulin to the United States.
“Vaulin is charged with running today’s most visited illegal file-sharing website, responsible for unlawfully distributing well over $1 billion of copyrighted materials,” said Assistant Attorney General Caldwell. “In an effort to evade law enforcement, Vaulin allegedly relied on servers located in countries around the world and moved his domains due to repeated seizures and civil lawsuits. His arrest in Poland, however, demonstrates again that cybercriminals can run, but they cannot hide from justice.”
“Copyright infringement exacts a large toll, a very human one, on the artists and businesses whose livelihood hinges on their creative inventions,” said U.S. Attorney Fardon. “Vaulin allegedly used the Internet to cause enormous harm to those artists. Our Cybercrimes Unit at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago will continue to work with our law enforcement partners around the globe to identify, investigate and prosecute those who attempt to illegally profit from the innovation of others.”
“Artem Vaulin was allegedly running a worldwide digital piracy website that stole more than $1 billion in profits from the U.S. entertainment industry,” said Executive Associate Director Edge. “Protecting legitimate commerce is one of HSI’s highest priorities. With the cooperation of our law enforcement partners, we will continue to aggressively bring to justice those who enrich themselves by stealing the creative work of U.S. artists.”
“Investigating cyber-enabled schemes is a top priority for CI,” said Chief Weber. “Websites such as the one seized today brazenly facilitate all kinds of illegal commerce. Criminal Investigation is committed to thoroughly investigating financial crimes, regardless of the medium. We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to unravel this and other complex financial transactions and money laundering schemes where individuals attempt to conceal the true source of their income and use the Internet to mask their true identity.”
According to the complaint, Vaulin allegedly owns and operates Kickass Torrents or KAT, a commercial website that has enabled users to illegally reproduce and distribute hundreds of millions of copyrighted motion pictures, video games, television programs, musical recordings and other electronic media since 2008. The copyrighted material is collectively valued at well over $1 billion, according to the complaint. The complaint alleges that KAT receives more than 50 million unique visitors per month and is estimated to be the 69th most frequently visited website on the internet.
In addition, a federal court in Chicago ordered the seizure of one bank account and seven domain names associated with the alleged KAT conspiracy.
According to the complaint, KAT has consistently made available for download movies that were still in theaters and displayed advertising throughout its site. KAT’s net worth has been estimated at more than $54 million, with estimated annual advertising revenue in the range of $12.5 million to $22.3 million, according to the complaint. The complaint alleges that the site operates in approximately 28 languages. KAT has moved its domains several times due to numerous seizures and copyright lawsuits, and it has been ordered blocked by courts in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Italy, Denmark, Belgium and Malaysia, according to the complaint. KAT has allegedly operated at various times under the domains kickasstorrents.com, kat.ph, kickass.to, kickass.so and kat.cr, and relied on a network of computer servers located around the world, including in Chicago.
Several motion pictures currently available for download and sharing on KAT are still showing in theatres, including “Captain America: Civil War,” “Now You See Me 2,” “Independence Day: Resurgence” and “Finding Dory,” according to the complaint. The complaint alleges that Vaulin, who used the screen name “tirm,” was involved in designing KAT’s original website, oversaw KAT’s operations and, during the latter part of the conspiracy, Vaulin allegedly operated KAT under the auspices of a Ukrainian-based front company called Cryptoneat.
The charges and allegations contained in the complaint are merely accusations. The defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
HSI and IRS-CI investigated the case with substantial assistance from the International Organized Crime Intelligence and Operations Center, the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center, the Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs and the Polish Border Guard and National Prosecutor’s Office.
Senior Counsel Ryan K. Dickey of the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys William E. Ridgway and Devlin N. Su of the Northern District of Illinois are prosecuting the case. The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs also provided significant assistance in this case.
Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 07/22/2016 07:36AM by Fox News.
Attachments:
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/07/kickasstorrents-alleged-founder-artem-vaulin-arrested-in-poland/
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/22/2016 07:52AM by Fox News.
https://www.change.org/p/https-www-justice-gov-free-artem-vaulin
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov//petition/free-artem-vaulin
http://tribune.com.pk/story/1147023/day-shutdown-kickasstorrents-running/
Not even 24 hours had passed since US authorities had shut down one of the largest torrent websites — Kickasstorrents or KAT — and arrested its owner Artem Vaulin from Poland, and KAT was already making a comeback.
IsoHunt, another major torrent website, has restored a mirror of the original KAT website with identical design and a somewhat similar domain name — kickasstorrents.website. The mirror site has everything necessary for a torrent site to be functional and features uploads from at least a year-and-a-half ago. However, it lacks forums, community features and support services that were used to be provided by KAT.
In the past, IsoHunt was also responsible for reviving another torrent website, Pirate Bay, during one of its numerous takedowns. “It’s not perfect but if users need to save and archive something it’s time,” IsoHunt team said in a message on mirrored website. “We don’t know how long it can last, but at least it’s something.”
The quick emergence of a KAT clone within hours of its closure shows how futile the fight against online piracy is. This was also evident in the aftermath of the Pirate Bay shutdown. Pirate Bay has been able to keep operating despite jail sentences handed down in Sweden against its founders, and the seizure of its web domains.
Authorities say they can seize or shut down illegal file-sharing sites but that the operators often reopen with servers in different jurisdictions. Vaulin is alleged to own Kickass Torrents or KAT, which in recent years has eclipsed Pirate Bay and others to become the world’s biggest source of pirated media.
Terming Vaulin’s arrest a violation of human rights, a petition has been linked on KAT’s mirror website asking US authorities to set KickassTorrents founder free and drop all charges against him. Authorities have charged Vaulin with conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement, conspiracy to commit money laundering and two counts of criminal copyright infringement.
IsoHunt, another major torrent website, has restored a mirror of the original KAT website with identical design and a somewhat similar domain name — kickasstorrents.website. The mirror site has everything necessary for a torrent site to be functional and features uploads from at least a year-and-a-half ago. However, it lacks forums, community features and support services that were used to be provided by KAT.
In the past, IsoHunt was also responsible for reviving another torrent website, Pirate Bay, during one of its numerous takedowns. “It’s not perfect but if users need to save and archive something it’s time,” IsoHunt team said in a message on mirrored website. “We don’t know how long it can last, but at least it’s something.”
The quick emergence of a KAT clone within hours of its closure shows how futile the fight against online piracy is. This was also evident in the aftermath of the Pirate Bay shutdown. Pirate Bay has been able to keep operating despite jail sentences handed down in Sweden against its founders, and the seizure of its web domains.
Authorities say they can seize or shut down illegal file-sharing sites but that the operators often reopen with servers in different jurisdictions. Vaulin is alleged to own Kickass Torrents or KAT, which in recent years has eclipsed Pirate Bay and others to become the world’s biggest source of pirated media.
Terming Vaulin’s arrest a violation of human rights, a petition has been linked on KAT’s mirror website asking US authorities to set KickassTorrents founder free and drop all charges against him. Authorities have charged Vaulin with conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement, conspiracy to commit money laundering and two counts of criminal copyright infringement.
The US confirmed Thursday it was seeking the extradition of the alleged boss of the world’s biggest online piracy site, Kickass Torrents, on charges of distributing over $1 billion worth of illegally copied films, music and other content.
Stephen Dreikorn, a spokesperson for the US embassy in Warsaw, told AFP Thursday via email: “We can confirm the United States government is seeking extradition of Artem Vaulin.”
The US criminal complaint said the website offers “a sophisticated and user-friendly environment in which its users are able to search for and locate content” which is protected by copyright.
KAT — which distributes pirated films, video games, television programmes and music — is estimated to be the 69th most frequently visited website on the internet, according to a Justice Department statement.
“Vaulin is charged with running today’s most visited illegal file-sharing website, responsible for unlawfully distributing well over $1 billion of copyrighted materials,” said Assistant Attorney General Leslie Caldwell.
“In an effort to evade law enforcement, Vaulin allegedly relied on servers located in countries around the world and moved his domains due to repeated seizures and civil lawsuits.
“His arrest in Poland, however, demonstrates again that cybercriminals can run, but they cannot hide from justice.”
Polish border guard spokesperson Agnieszka Golias told AFP Thursday that Vaulin was arrested at Warsaw’s Chopin airport on Wednesday “during an attempt to enter Poland”.
US officials are seeking to extradite Vaulin on charges filed in a federal court in Chicago, which ordered the seizure of one bank account and seven domain names associated with the file-sharing website.
The complaint said officials were able to track and identify Vaulin from records provided by Apple on his iCloud account.
According to the complaint, KAT operates in 28 languages and has made available movies that were still in cinemas along with other content, earning revenue from advertising throughout its site.
The website’s value is estimated at more than $54 million (49 million euros), with annual advertising revenue in the range of $12.5 million to $22.3 million, according to the complaint.
KAT has moved its domains several times after being blocked in Britain, Ireland, Italy, Denmark, Belgium and Malaysia, according to the complaint, and has relied on a network of computer servers located around the world, including in Chicago.
Recently, the website allowed users to download illegal copies of recent hit movies such as “Captain America: Civil War,” “Now You See Me 2,” and “Finding Dory.”
Vaulin, who used the screen name “tirm,” was involved in designing the original website and ran the site which has been operating since 2008 through a Ukrainian-based front company called Cryptoneat.
According to the Justice Department, KAT’s website “purports to comply with the removal of copyrighted materials” but evidence showed it did not remove content requested by organisations such as the Motion Picture Association of America, the Recording Industry Association of America and Entertainment Software Association.
The move comes with US officials in a long battle to extradite the head of Megaupload, a major piracy site shuttered by the FBI in 2012.
The head of Megaupload, known by the pseudonym Kim Dotcom, is free on bail in New Zealand pending an effort to extradite him to the US, and vowed earlier this month to revive his operations.
His extradition appeal is set to begin in the High Court in Auckland on August 29 and is expected to last four to eight weeks.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/22/2016 07:54AM by Fox News.
Welcome to Fairfax Underground, a project site designed to improve communication among residents of Fairfax County, VA. Feel free to post anything Northern Virginia residents would find interesting.
Kickass Torrents' shut down forever by feds [FYI: I'ts already making a comeback!!!]
Posted by:
Fox News
()
Date: July 22, 2016 07:00AM
http://money.cnn.com/2016/07/21/technology/kickass-torrent/
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/2996082-Artem-Vaulin-Complaint.html
https://www.change.org/p/https-www-justice-gov-free-artem-vaulin
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov//petition/free-artem-vaulin
Kickass Torrents -- the world's top website for illegally sharing movies, TV shows and music -- has been taken down by the U.S. government.
The website's alleged owner, Artem Vaulin, a 30-year-old Ukrainian man, was arrested in Poland on Wednesday.
The international bust is a massive blow to the online torrent community, where millions of people share copyrighted material without paying for it.
It also shows how American law enforcement is ramping up its efforts to combat copyright infringement.
Governments have been pressured in recent years by entertainment giants -- including Sony Pictures, the Walt Disney Company (DIS), Warner Bros. Entertainment, and Universal Music Group -- to crack down on digital piracy.
In a statement, federal prosecutor Zachary T. Fardon said: "Copyright infringement exacts a large toll, a very human one, on the artists and businesses whose livelihood hinges on their creative inventions."
Online piracy -- essentially copying a digital file and sharing it -- sucks revenue out of media publishing companies, which pay fees to the artists who create the work.
The U.S. government will ask the Polish government to extradite Vaulin to the United States, where he will be prosecuted. He's accused of operating a website that allowed people to share movies, video games, television shows and music worth more than $1 billion.
The primary method of file sharing right now is through something called "torrents." A website like Kickass Torrents provides a searchable list of files available for swapping. Then a separate program, called a BitTorrent client, actually downloads or uploads the file.
Like most torrent websites, Kickass Torrents was forced to change its web address repeatedly to avoid legal entanglements. It operated as KickassTorrents.com, then it moved to website addresses registered in the Philippines, the tiny Polynesian island of Tonga, Somalia, and elsewhere.
Most recently, it was available at kat.cr, a Costa Rican domain.
The cybercrimes unit at the Justice Department's office in Chicago investigated the case. The sealed criminal complaint against Vaulin was filed there on July 8. In the U.S. Department of Homeland Security affidavit supporting the government's case, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement special agent Jared Der-Yeghiayan lists several examples of theft.
He points out how summer blockbuster movies like 2009's "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," 2011's "Captain America: the First Avenger," and 2014's "The Amazing Spiderman 2" all appeared on Kickass Torrents while they were still in theaters.
Although the sharing was free, Kickass Torrents was raking in advertising revenue on its website -- maybe as close as $17 million a year, according to some estimates listed in the agent's affidavit.
Federal agents allegedly identified Vaulin by an online name, tirm. They then used records kept by Apple (AAPL, Tech30) to link the Apple email account tirm@me.com to Vaulin. They also looked into Vaulin's records at Facebook (FB, Tech30).
According to law enforcement, Vaulin posed as the lead engineer of a company called Cryptoneat -- which was really a front company for this massive online piracy operation.
This latest federal takedown focused on the largest torrent site at the moment. But fans of Kickass Torrents are sure to migrate to competing sites like Torrentz, ExtraTorrent, and BitSnoop.
Criminal Complaint:
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/2996082-Artem-Vaulin-Complaint.html
Edited 8 time(s). Last edit at 07/22/2016 07:56AM by Fox News.
Attachments:
Re: Kickass Torrents' shut down forever by feds
Posted by:
Fox News
()
Date: July 22, 2016 07:08AM
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/us-authorities-charge-owner-most-visited-illegal-file-sharing-website-copyright-infringement
U.S. Authorities Charge Owner of Most-Visited Illegal File-Sharing Website with Copyright Infringement
U.S. authorities have charged the alleged owner of today’s most visited illegal file-sharing website with criminal copyright infringement and have seized domain names associated with the website.
Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Zachary T. Fardon of the Northern District of Illinois, Executive Associate Director Peter T. Edge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and Chief Richard Weber of the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) made the announcement.
Artem Vaulin, 30, of Kharkiv, Ukraine, was arrested today in Poland and is charged by criminal complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago, with one count of conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and two counts of criminal copyright infringement. The United States will seek to extradite Vaulin to the United States.
“Vaulin is charged with running today’s most visited illegal file-sharing website, responsible for unlawfully distributing well over $1 billion of copyrighted materials,” said Assistant Attorney General Caldwell. “In an effort to evade law enforcement, Vaulin allegedly relied on servers located in countries around the world and moved his domains due to repeated seizures and civil lawsuits. His arrest in Poland, however, demonstrates again that cybercriminals can run, but they cannot hide from justice.”
“Copyright infringement exacts a large toll, a very human one, on the artists and businesses whose livelihood hinges on their creative inventions,” said U.S. Attorney Fardon. “Vaulin allegedly used the Internet to cause enormous harm to those artists. Our Cybercrimes Unit at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago will continue to work with our law enforcement partners around the globe to identify, investigate and prosecute those who attempt to illegally profit from the innovation of others.”
“Artem Vaulin was allegedly running a worldwide digital piracy website that stole more than $1 billion in profits from the U.S. entertainment industry,” said Executive Associate Director Edge. “Protecting legitimate commerce is one of HSI’s highest priorities. With the cooperation of our law enforcement partners, we will continue to aggressively bring to justice those who enrich themselves by stealing the creative work of U.S. artists.”
“Investigating cyber-enabled schemes is a top priority for CI,” said Chief Weber. “Websites such as the one seized today brazenly facilitate all kinds of illegal commerce. Criminal Investigation is committed to thoroughly investigating financial crimes, regardless of the medium. We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to unravel this and other complex financial transactions and money laundering schemes where individuals attempt to conceal the true source of their income and use the Internet to mask their true identity.”
According to the complaint, Vaulin allegedly owns and operates Kickass Torrents or KAT, a commercial website that has enabled users to illegally reproduce and distribute hundreds of millions of copyrighted motion pictures, video games, television programs, musical recordings and other electronic media since 2008. The copyrighted material is collectively valued at well over $1 billion, according to the complaint. The complaint alleges that KAT receives more than 50 million unique visitors per month and is estimated to be the 69th most frequently visited website on the internet.
In addition, a federal court in Chicago ordered the seizure of one bank account and seven domain names associated with the alleged KAT conspiracy.
According to the complaint, KAT has consistently made available for download movies that were still in theaters and displayed advertising throughout its site. KAT’s net worth has been estimated at more than $54 million, with estimated annual advertising revenue in the range of $12.5 million to $22.3 million, according to the complaint. The complaint alleges that the site operates in approximately 28 languages. KAT has moved its domains several times due to numerous seizures and copyright lawsuits, and it has been ordered blocked by courts in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Italy, Denmark, Belgium and Malaysia, according to the complaint. KAT has allegedly operated at various times under the domains kickasstorrents.com, kat.ph, kickass.to, kickass.so and kat.cr, and relied on a network of computer servers located around the world, including in Chicago.
Several motion pictures currently available for download and sharing on KAT are still showing in theatres, including “Captain America: Civil War,” “Now You See Me 2,” “Independence Day: Resurgence” and “Finding Dory,” according to the complaint. The complaint alleges that Vaulin, who used the screen name “tirm,” was involved in designing KAT’s original website, oversaw KAT’s operations and, during the latter part of the conspiracy, Vaulin allegedly operated KAT under the auspices of a Ukrainian-based front company called Cryptoneat.
The charges and allegations contained in the complaint are merely accusations. The defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
HSI and IRS-CI investigated the case with substantial assistance from the International Organized Crime Intelligence and Operations Center, the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center, the Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs and the Polish Border Guard and National Prosecutor’s Office.
Senior Counsel Ryan K. Dickey of the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys William E. Ridgway and Devlin N. Su of the Northern District of Illinois are prosecuting the case. The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs also provided significant assistance in this case.
Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 07/22/2016 07:36AM by Fox News.
Attachments:
Re: Kickass Torrents' shut down forever by feds
Posted by:
Fox News
()
Date: July 22, 2016 07:11AM
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/07/kickasstorrents-alleged-founder-artem-vaulin-arrested-in-poland/
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/22/2016 07:52AM by Fox News.
Re: Kickass Torrents' shut down forever by feds
Posted by:
Fox News
()
Date: July 22, 2016 07:48AM
https://www.change.org/p/https-www-justice-gov-free-artem-vaulin
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov//petition/free-artem-vaulin
http://tribune.com.pk/story/1147023/day-shutdown-kickasstorrents-running/
Not even 24 hours had passed since US authorities had shut down one of the largest torrent websites — Kickasstorrents or KAT — and arrested its owner Artem Vaulin from Poland, and KAT was already making a comeback.
IsoHunt, another major torrent website, has restored a mirror of the original KAT website with identical design and a somewhat similar domain name — kickasstorrents.website. The mirror site has everything necessary for a torrent site to be functional and features uploads from at least a year-and-a-half ago. However, it lacks forums, community features and support services that were used to be provided by KAT.
In the past, IsoHunt was also responsible for reviving another torrent website, Pirate Bay, during one of its numerous takedowns. “It’s not perfect but if users need to save and archive something it’s time,” IsoHunt team said in a message on mirrored website. “We don’t know how long it can last, but at least it’s something.”
The quick emergence of a KAT clone within hours of its closure shows how futile the fight against online piracy is. This was also evident in the aftermath of the Pirate Bay shutdown. Pirate Bay has been able to keep operating despite jail sentences handed down in Sweden against its founders, and the seizure of its web domains.
Authorities say they can seize or shut down illegal file-sharing sites but that the operators often reopen with servers in different jurisdictions. Vaulin is alleged to own Kickass Torrents or KAT, which in recent years has eclipsed Pirate Bay and others to become the world’s biggest source of pirated media.
Terming Vaulin’s arrest a violation of human rights, a petition has been linked on KAT’s mirror website asking US authorities to set KickassTorrents founder free and drop all charges against him. Authorities have charged Vaulin with conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement, conspiracy to commit money laundering and two counts of criminal copyright infringement.
IsoHunt, another major torrent website, has restored a mirror of the original KAT website with identical design and a somewhat similar domain name — kickasstorrents.website. The mirror site has everything necessary for a torrent site to be functional and features uploads from at least a year-and-a-half ago. However, it lacks forums, community features and support services that were used to be provided by KAT.
In the past, IsoHunt was also responsible for reviving another torrent website, Pirate Bay, during one of its numerous takedowns. “It’s not perfect but if users need to save and archive something it’s time,” IsoHunt team said in a message on mirrored website. “We don’t know how long it can last, but at least it’s something.”
The quick emergence of a KAT clone within hours of its closure shows how futile the fight against online piracy is. This was also evident in the aftermath of the Pirate Bay shutdown. Pirate Bay has been able to keep operating despite jail sentences handed down in Sweden against its founders, and the seizure of its web domains.
Authorities say they can seize or shut down illegal file-sharing sites but that the operators often reopen with servers in different jurisdictions. Vaulin is alleged to own Kickass Torrents or KAT, which in recent years has eclipsed Pirate Bay and others to become the world’s biggest source of pirated media.
Terming Vaulin’s arrest a violation of human rights, a petition has been linked on KAT’s mirror website asking US authorities to set KickassTorrents founder free and drop all charges against him. Authorities have charged Vaulin with conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement, conspiracy to commit money laundering and two counts of criminal copyright infringement.
The US confirmed Thursday it was seeking the extradition of the alleged boss of the world’s biggest online piracy site, Kickass Torrents, on charges of distributing over $1 billion worth of illegally copied films, music and other content.
Stephen Dreikorn, a spokesperson for the US embassy in Warsaw, told AFP Thursday via email: “We can confirm the United States government is seeking extradition of Artem Vaulin.”
The US criminal complaint said the website offers “a sophisticated and user-friendly environment in which its users are able to search for and locate content” which is protected by copyright.
KAT — which distributes pirated films, video games, television programmes and music — is estimated to be the 69th most frequently visited website on the internet, according to a Justice Department statement.
“Vaulin is charged with running today’s most visited illegal file-sharing website, responsible for unlawfully distributing well over $1 billion of copyrighted materials,” said Assistant Attorney General Leslie Caldwell.
“In an effort to evade law enforcement, Vaulin allegedly relied on servers located in countries around the world and moved his domains due to repeated seizures and civil lawsuits.
“His arrest in Poland, however, demonstrates again that cybercriminals can run, but they cannot hide from justice.”
Polish border guard spokesperson Agnieszka Golias told AFP Thursday that Vaulin was arrested at Warsaw’s Chopin airport on Wednesday “during an attempt to enter Poland”.
US officials are seeking to extradite Vaulin on charges filed in a federal court in Chicago, which ordered the seizure of one bank account and seven domain names associated with the file-sharing website.
The complaint said officials were able to track and identify Vaulin from records provided by Apple on his iCloud account.
According to the complaint, KAT operates in 28 languages and has made available movies that were still in cinemas along with other content, earning revenue from advertising throughout its site.
The website’s value is estimated at more than $54 million (49 million euros), with annual advertising revenue in the range of $12.5 million to $22.3 million, according to the complaint.
KAT has moved its domains several times after being blocked in Britain, Ireland, Italy, Denmark, Belgium and Malaysia, according to the complaint, and has relied on a network of computer servers located around the world, including in Chicago.
Recently, the website allowed users to download illegal copies of recent hit movies such as “Captain America: Civil War,” “Now You See Me 2,” and “Finding Dory.”
Vaulin, who used the screen name “tirm,” was involved in designing the original website and ran the site which has been operating since 2008 through a Ukrainian-based front company called Cryptoneat.
According to the Justice Department, KAT’s website “purports to comply with the removal of copyrighted materials” but evidence showed it did not remove content requested by organisations such as the Motion Picture Association of America, the Recording Industry Association of America and Entertainment Software Association.
The move comes with US officials in a long battle to extradite the head of Megaupload, a major piracy site shuttered by the FBI in 2012.
The head of Megaupload, known by the pseudonym Kim Dotcom, is free on bail in New Zealand pending an effort to extradite him to the US, and vowed earlier this month to revive his operations.
His extradition appeal is set to begin in the High Court in Auckland on August 29 and is expected to last four to eight weeks.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/22/2016 07:54AM by Fox News.
Re: Kickass Torrents' shut down forever by feds [FYI: I'ts already making a comeback!!!]
Posted by:
Fox News
()
Date: July 22, 2016 07:58AM
I think kickass will prevail
Re: Kickass Torrents' shut down forever by feds [FYI: I'ts already making a comeback!!!]
Posted by:
Fox News
()
Date: July 22, 2016 08:21AM
What torrent sites are best touse for now?
Re: Kickass Torrents' shut down forever by feds [FYI: I'ts already making a comeback!!!]
Posted by:
GoodFollow
()
Date: December 03, 2019 03:44AM
Kickass will definitely prevail. Hail Kickass
Re: Kickass Torrents' shut down forever by feds [FYI: I'ts already making a comeback!!!]
Posted by:
GlicerinEBAG
()
Date: December 03, 2019 03:52AM
Well, that was expected to happen. Don't know whay they are doing that, maybe they don't have other things to do. So I don't know exactly how the law works, and what did they actually do with the torrent site's, but I know that someone is using something like kickass proxy to get connected to the torrent mirror, you can try as well, this will not reboot the torrent site, but will the unblocked mirror, that will provide you the access to free files to download so you will be able to find everything you need for free. Awesome!!
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/03/2019 04:01AM by GlicerinEBAG.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/03/2019 04:01AM by GlicerinEBAG.
Re: Kickass Torrents' shut down forever by feds [FYI: I'ts already making a comeback!!!]
Posted by:
tree 22
()
Date: December 03, 2019 03:17PM
torrents are a ponzia scheme by germans and chinese
they offer candy "better download speed and illegal downloads of copyright material" with the poison pill (that ubuntu admins have root access to your computer - they can run code and your your internet connection vicariously)
IT'S A FUCKING SCAM - DON'T DO IT
they offer candy "better download speed and illegal downloads of copyright material" with the poison pill (that ubuntu admins have root access to your computer - they can run code and your your internet connection vicariously)
IT'S A FUCKING SCAM - DON'T DO IT
Re: Kickass Torrents' shut down forever by feds [FYI: I'ts already making a comeback!!!]
Posted by:
lakersgirl
()
Date: January 03, 2021 03:19PM
I love torrent downloads. I think that a lot of people benefit from them especially because they are universally available. I have been using them a lot especially when was staying in south-east Asia. I suspected that the internet connection would be wonky over there but I never expected it to be that bad. Not only the speed was not up to par but the connection would break more often then not. I had to figure out something and fast since my work depended on good internet connections so I started looking. And that was when I came across something called a seedbox. It's honestly a holly grail for people like me. I was lucky since I managed to find this really cool website called seedboxreviews.com that has a list of different programs plus there are short descriptions for you to choose from. I have been using it even after I came back. I think you guys will like it a lot.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/03/2021 03:20PM by lakersgirl.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/03/2021 03:20PM by lakersgirl.