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Thread: Feds seize Kickasstorrents domains, arrest owner

  1. #1

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    Feds seize Kickasstorrents domains, arrest owner

    Source: https://torrentfreak.com/feds-seize-...-owner-160720/

    The U.S. Government has arrested the alleged owner of KickassTorrents, the world's largest torrent site. The 30-year-old Ukrainian was arrested in Poland today and is charged with criminal copyright infringement and money laundering. In addition, a federal court in Chicago has ordered the seizure of several KAT domain names.

    With millions of unique visitors per day KickassTorrents (KAT) has become the most-used torrent site on the Internet, beating even The Pirate Bay.

    Today, however, the site has run into a significant roadblock after U.S. authorities announced the arrest of the site’s alleged owner.

    The 30-year-old Artem Vaulin, from Ukraine, was arrested today in Poland from where the United States has requested his extradition.

    In a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago, the owner is charged with conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and two counts of criminal copyright infringement.

    The complaint further reveals that the feds posed as an advertiser, which revealed a bank account associated with the site.

    It also shows that Apple handed over personal details of Vaulin after the investigator cross-referenced an IP-address used for an iTunes transaction with an IP-address that was used to login to KAT’s Facebook account.

    “Records provided by Apple showed that tirm@me.com conducted an iTunes transaction using IP Address 109.86.226.203 on or about July 31, 2015. The same IP Address was used on the same day to login into the KAT Facebook,” the complaint reads.

    In addition to the arrest in Poland, the court also granted the seizure of a bank account associated with KickassTorrents, as well as several of the site’s domain names.

    Commenting on the announcement, Assistant Attorney General Caldwell said that KickassTorrents helped to distribute over $1 billion in pirated files.

    “Vaulin is charged with running today’s most visited illegal file-sharing website, responsible for unlawfully distributing well over $1 billion of copyrighted materials.”

    “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.”

    KAT’s .com and .tv domains are expected to be seized soon by Verisign. For the main Kat.cr domain and several others, seizure warrants will be sent to the respective authorities under the MLAT treaty.

    At the time of writing the main domain name Kat.cr has trouble loading, but various proxies still appear to work. KAT’s status page doesn’t list any issues, but we assume that this will be updated shortly.

    TorrentFreak has reached out to the KAT team for a comment on the news and what it means for the site’s future, but we have yet to hear back.
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    Lucius (21.07.16) , slikrapid (21.07.16)

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    That is a sad sad day and sad news. Any good public alternative to kat nowadays?
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    Records provided by Apple showed that tirm@me.com conducted an iTunes transaction using IP Address 109.86.226.203 on or about July 31, 2015. The same IP Address was used on the same day to login into the KAT Facebook
    if that's what got him caught then he earned it
    Your account has been disabled.
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    Lucius (21.07.16)

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    Quote Originally Posted by SomeGuy View Post
    That is a sad sad day and sad news. Any good public alternative to kat nowadays?
    There's TPB and 1337x.

    Quote Originally Posted by Instab View Post
    if that's what got him caught then he earned it
    I wouldn't say he earned it, he probably forgot to change his IP just that once, and is now paying a huge price for that.

    Facebook and pirate sites, on the other hand, should not mix.

    Anyway, as all torrent site admins, this guy was taking a large risk so that we could get free stuff, and sadly is now paying the consequences. Let's wish him the very best.
    "I just remembered something that happened a long time ago."
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    Lucius (21.07.16)

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    Quote Originally Posted by anon View Post
    There's TPB and 1337x.
    Some people talk about ExtraTorrent and CrystalTorrents as upcoming alternatives. Bad UI though.
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    Quote Originally Posted by article
    The U.S. Government has arrested the alleged owner of KickassTorrents, the world's largest torrent site. The 30-year-old Ukrainian was arrested in Poland
    same thing, huh?

    The complaint further reveals that the feds posed as an advertiser, which revealed a bank account associated with the site.
    which means they're not much better than the criminals they hunt (using similar methodology, like falsifying data)

    It also shows that Apple handed over personal details of Vaulin after the investigator cross-referenced an IP-address used for an iTunes transaction with an IP-address that was used to login to KAT’s Facebook account.
    which means they can harvest ip's from various sites (facebook, apple,...) and cross-reference them with targeted ip's from a specific site/account

    The same IP Address was used on the same day
    reasonable doubt? (dynamic ip/spoofing/...)

    unlawfully distributing well over $1 billion of copyrighted materials.”
    assumed value based on assumed profits from non-existent purchases (of non-existent goods)

    His arrest in Poland, however, demonstrates again that cybercriminals can run, but they cannot hide from justice.”
    human law/legal system is an idea of what justice may be, however justice is always present and administered continuously, regardless of whether there are any human laws available or not

    what it means for the site’s future, but we have yet to hear back.
    tpb still works, they can be used as an example to learn from


    regarding public alternatives, according to the same site:

    Code:
    https://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-popular-torrent-sites-of-2016-160102/

    Quote Originally Posted by VA
    then he earned it
    I wouldn't say he earned it,
    he meant 'deserved it' (DE: verdient)
    its really simple: he deserved/deserves whatever happened/happens/will happen to him - the same applies to anyone & everyone else

    Quote Originally Posted by anon
    Let's wish him the very best.
    sure, but can you do the same regarding his (or your own) worst enemies?
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    Lucius (22.07.16) , SomeGuy (22.07.16)

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    Quote Originally Posted by anon View Post
    Facebook and pirate sites, on the other hand, should not mix.
    exactly. for that alone he earned it
    Your account has been disabled.
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    KAT was one of the websites that complied most with DMCA requests, I think they even reached like 1 million torrents they deleted to bend over and let DMCA guys enjoy the view, still they are treated as bad as any other torrent website.
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  13. #9

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    The KAT community created a new forum to not lose the people that used to be there while things get solved. Here is the link: https://katcr.co/
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