Feds Seize KickassTorrents Domains, Arrest Owner

[Pahly]

Look, all KAT is, is a site where people shared. People had communities. People had groups. They all filled a particular need of the torrenting community. Our forums wew bigger, we had request threads, and we had release threads. We had private and public groups for users with similar interests to meet together. I see a forum here, but, for example, I can't find any special interest groups, or anything specific to say the DAZ3d/Poser users, to help each other, or discuss or request or anything. Maybe that works for you TPB members, and that's fine. But, from a KAT member of that community, I can tell you we lost a HELL of a lot of well seeded torrents specifically related to Daz and Poser...and searching here comes up with very few. That, in itself, is a loss to sharers! I can find tv shows and movies literally ANYWHERE on the web without touching a single torrent. Finding the tools I need as a 3d artist however, is hard as hell.

Hey, wolfenspiel, Pahly. Good to see a few familiar faces after just registering, here.

I'll chime in and agree: KAT really was/is all about a sense of community. I can't speak to that on the TPB, and I won't try. But the main thing I felt when I discovered the story about KAT's (hopefully temporary) closure was that loss of people--some colleagues, some acquaintances, some good friends and a few really great friends. People like the late, great Smitty, who did such a fantastic job on my sig. Others who greeted me, helped me out with all my initial questions, and explained how to upload. Folks who subsequently liked my many and strange uploads. People I helped out when their uTorrent clients died. Threads where we congratulated folks who'd gotten married, or a blog where we commiserated a member when great floods had washed most of his parents' village away.

I'm not suggesting KAT was perfect. Far from it. There were always people who abused the system to get a high number rep in simple ways, such as downloading every book, every day (and KAT had a fantastic number of books), and spam-approving them all. Then there was the very occasional moderator or thread owner who was an OCD bear trap, creating post hoops to jump through that seemed sadistic. But for the most part, KAT was, and will be again, a very welcoming place. It was large, but it never felt large. It combined in some sense the best of a place to share all that's great in files with the intimacy of a smaller forum, a generally welcoming atmosphere, and its subsets of friends. If that sounds happy-happy-joy-joy, just keep in mind that for some of us who have been smacked around (and kicked, and abused) heavily by life much of our lives, it's nice to find the warmth once in a while.

I'm glad to see at least a few people here know that sites like ours aren't in competition. There's no us, and you. There's just the sharing, 24/7. Getting around the typically nonsensical attempts to prevent information and entertainment from reaching the broadest number of people possible. As far as I'm concerned, fuck the static that creates hostility. We don't have the time or resources to play into the hands of those who would love to take us all down.

Will KAT come back? I'm pretty sure it will, and I'll look to Sid for the word on that. Will Vaulin keep out of prison? Crystal ball's cloudy; come back later. Someone put up a great post here on the (il)legalities at the matter, but I think it's important to keep two other things in mind. First, there's no "US government" during this or that. There are dozens if not hundreds of factions, large and small, in the US federal government, and someone or group, mid level or higher, decided to launch this sting operation in an election year. Not necessarily an elected official, either. It could be that someone in the FBI or the Commerce Department wanted to get a nice pat on the head when the next president took office, and maybe a raise. We'll never know. Vaulin took some stupid chances, so the fact that no government had tried to take him down before is...interesting.

Second, it's not just the law that will determine Vaulin gets imprisoned, but the interpretation of the law by one or more judges, elected or appointed. And they'll probably have a lot of latitude to do what they want. I suspect he'll do time, but we'll just have to wait, and see.

That's an awesome write up mate I do remember you. Smitty was a good bloke had a lot of patience and was always there if you needed a chat its just sad his time was cut short and his health got the better of him...

Yes a lot of people abused the reputation system it pissed me off as the large rep I had come down to my overall work not part of the spam clan who do the same thing over and over on 100 walls a day or as you said people who download a lot of small files..

I came a long way on KAT. back in 2012 I was a deleted user.. any one who tried to tell me different I told em to go f$&$ em selves.. but I came back from the dead thanks to 1eyedwillie.. KAT was a bad places years ago in a sense.. a lot of titled users thought their shit didn't stink and tried to control everything but thankfully it changed a lot over time and I've made some really close friends. Bubanee, Hand_Of_Doom, Jazzy4kat, stargazer, rfport, and the rest of you lot if you guys see this I bloody miss ya haha hope we can get in contact soon!

[hireshi]

I remember I spoke about some of their major flaws on their forums, was blatantly ignored.

Well if they don't come back, ThePirateBay will probably see an intense increase in traffic again, as people will truly see who the most resilient is.
And if they do come back, no way in hell I am going there. IF the owner is extradited to the U.S with charges of distributing 1 billion+ illegal files, he will face a heavy, heavy sentence and will give up anyone and anything to loosen it.

The sites more compromised than a Thai hooker's ass on Christmas eve.

What really pisses me off more than the loss of KAT is the fact that the U.S government managed to get the man in Europe, whilst the server were spread all over the world outside of the U.S.
He was no war criminal, no terrorist, fucking Washington and their world police. Wish someone just smuggled some TNT into the white house and got it over with.

[Ernesto]

With an active community and millions of regular visitors, KickassTorrents has been the most used torrent site for quite some time.

This ended abruptly earlier this week, following the arrest of its alleged founder in Poland. A criminal complaint from the U.S. Government revealed that entire operation had been compromised by the Department of Homeland Security.

Starting a few hours ago, the first Kickass domain was signed over to the U.S. authorities. Others are expected to follow during the days to come.

Kickass.to now displays a seizure notice, which means that the associated domain registry was quick to respond to the U.S. warrant. People who visit the Kickass.to address today will see the following banner, specifically tailored for KAT.

KAT’s seizure banner

As expected, the U.S. authorities are not the only ones to ‘lift’ KAT’s logo, many others are doing the same, but for a different reason.

Shortly after KAT went offline dozens of people began promoting mirrors and copies of the site. Some are just trying to keep lost files accessible, but there’s also a group trying to take over the brand, similar to the efforts seen following YIFY’s demise.

For example, the operator of Kickass.la sent an email to several reporters promoting a new KAT address. In a follow-up, we were told that the site is an “official backup,” and that a copy of the database is in their possession.

However, the site appears to be little more than a partial copy and the person behind it later admitted that they are not related to KAT.

Only adding to the confusion are the many other copies and alternatives claiming to be the official resurrection of KAT. Some even advertise themselves as such, but most have been available for a longer time as proxy/mirror sites.

Kickasstorrents.to, for example, has been around for a long time, hosting cached pages of the original site. The latter is also true for others, such as Dxtorrent.com. But in any case, there is no true backup with freshly added content available.

Another mirror that has been widely discussed is kickasstorrents.website.

Unlike others, the people behind this site are very clear about the fact that they are not related to the original KAT team. Their copy currently lists torrent files from the past one and a half years, but like other mirrors it doesn’t have a working forum or upload functionality.

“It’s not perfect but if users need to save and archive something it’s time. We don’t know how long it can last, but at least it’s something,” the site’s operator told TorrentFreak.

The people behind the site, who describe themselves as a group of individuals who stand for freedom of the Internet, also launched a petition on Change.org calling for the release of KAT’s alleged owner Artem Vaulin.

“We are protesting against violent attack on our right to share information and arrest of Kat.cr founder Artem Vaulin. Our freedom to share is the human right which Artem Vaulin has been providing to millions of users from all over the world,” they say.

While a notable effort, the banner promoting the cause appears to show a photo of an entirely different Artem Vaulin. The image was removed from the petition after we pointed this out, but it’s still present in the manifesto at the time of writing and being shared in news articles and on social media.

What is clear is that former KAT users are grasping at straws to get their old community back. While mirrors and copies do look like their old home, without a working forum and new content they don’t provide much of an alternative.

For now, people are probably better off not trusting any “KAT resurrection” claims. The chance of getting your password stolen is higher than finding a site with a true backup of the user database.

Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and ANONYMOUS VPN services.



Originally Published: Fri, 22 Jul 2016 08:15:55 +0000
source

[Sid]

There are already sites popping up claiming to be the new kat, and while most of us know better, some will be taken in. Don't trust any site claiming to be the official kat site, and don't submit your kat log in details to anyone.

Shortly after KAT went offline dozens of people began promoting mirrors and copies of the site. Some are just trying to keep lost files accessible, but there’s also a group trying to take over the brand, similar to the efforts seen following YIFY’s demise.

Where Spud leads TorrentFreak eventually follows...

[5c4lLY349]

I just hope KAT comes back!
Many seem to say things won't last forever ... that is a valid point ... and something to prepare for ...
But I like to think if certain individuals put their heads together with other quite reputable 'regular' users we could all have backups world wide, a notion put forward and discussed to some not too long ago. That way government institutional positions would all be fucked! ... When and "if" one is taken down, one can easily pop up again.
Unless of course "they" take control of the net itself ... which is something to worry about with ISP's Domains etc ... I have qualms with if they constrict us with more laws/policies with ISP and domain providers ... they sure have a lot of resources at their finger tips. Anything in law, once passed and reinforced simply binds its citizens. One can always revolt and go off grid ...
However I think encryption is the key for much of the avoidance
But this idea has many potential drawbacks or potential bottlenecks ... but if done right ... could last for a very very long time.

End of rant ...

[wolfenspiel]

Look, all KAT is, is a site where people shared. People had communities. People had groups. They all filled a particular need of the torrenting community. Our forums wew bigger, we had request threads, and we had release threads. We had private and public groups for users with similar interests to meet together. I see a forum here, but, for example, I can't find any special interest groups, or anything specific to say the DAZ3d/Poser users, to help each other, or discuss or request or anything. Maybe that works for you TPB members, and that's fine. But, from a KAT member of that community, I can tell you we lost a HELL of a lot of well seeded torrents specifically related to Daz and Poser...and searching here comes up with very few. That, in itself, is a loss to sharers! I can find tv shows and movies literally ANYWHERE on the web without touching a single torrent. Finding the tools I need as a 3d artist however, is hard as hell.

Hey, wolfenspiel, Pahly. Good to see a few familiar faces after just registering, here.

I'll chime in and agree: KAT really was/is all about a sense of community. I can't speak to that on the TPB, and I won't try. But the main thing I felt when I discovered the story about KAT's (hopefully temporary) closure was that loss of people--some colleagues, some acquaintances, some good friends and a few really great friends. People like the late, great Smitty, who did such a fantastic job on my sig. Others who greeted me, helped me out with all my initial questions, and explained how to upload. Folks who subsequently liked my many and strange uploads. People I helped out when their uTorrent clients died. Threads where we congratulated folks who'd gotten married, or a blog where we commiserated a member when great floods had washed most of his parents' village away.

I'm not suggesting KAT was perfect. Far from it. There were always people who abused the system to get a high number rep in simple ways, such as downloading every book, every day (and KAT had a fantastic number of books), and spam-approving them all. Then there was the very occasional moderator or thread owner who was an OCD bear trap, creating post hoops to jump through that seemed sadistic. But for the most part, KAT was, and will be again, a very welcoming place. It was large, but it never felt large. It combined in some sense the best of a place to share all that's great in files with the intimacy of a smaller forum, a generally welcoming atmosphere, and its subsets of friends. If that sounds happy-happy-joy-joy, just keep in mind that for some of us who have been smacked around (and kicked, and abused) heavily by life much of our lives, it's nice to find the warmth once in a while.

I'm glad to see at least a few people here know that sites like ours aren't in competition. There's no us, and you. There's just the sharing, 24/7. Getting around the typically nonsensical attempts to prevent information and entertainment from reaching the broadest number of people possible. As far as I'm concerned, fuck the static that creates hostility. We don't have the time or resources to play into the hands of those who would love to take us all down.

Will KAT come back? I'm pretty sure it will, and I'll look to Sid for the word on that. Will Vaulin keep out of prison? Crystal ball's cloudy; come back later. Someone put up a great post here on the (il)legalities at the matter, but I think it's important to keep two other things in mind. First, there's no "US government" during this or that. There are dozens if not hundreds of factions, large and small, in the US federal government, and someone or group, mid level or higher, decided to launch this sting operation in an election year. Not necessarily an elected official, either. It could be that someone in the FBI or the Commerce Department wanted to get a nice pat on the head when the next president took office, and maybe a raise. We'll never know. Vaulin took some stupid chances, so the fact that no government had tried to take him down before is...interesting.

Second, it's not just the law that will determine Vaulin gets imprisoned, but the interpretation of the law by one or more judges, elected or appointed. And they'll probably have a lot of latitude to do what they want. I suspect he'll do time, but we'll just have to wait, and see.

Philidor!! Glad to see you here, my friend! At least my Classical education won't be lacking! All I have to do now is figure out where all my Daz3d/Poser clan are!

[Sid]

wolfenspiel, see here: http://suprbayoubiexnmp.onion/Thread-DAZ...on-Project

And everyone, pro tip; unless you particularly need to quote a post (and nobody needs to quote entire page-sized posts) type your replies in the "Quick Reply" box at the bottom of the page.

Clicking on the "Reply" button in the bottom right hand corner of a post quotes it in full, and nobody needs to have to read/scroll past that as everyone has already seen it when it was posted originally.

[5c4lLY349]

well said Sid, pointless in being redundant and having to scroll through unnecessary text and discussions ... bit like this post

[connor17]

Piratebay, this forum, are what users make them to be.
I'm used to read the same criticism about them over an over again: the lack of torrents on piratebay, the lack of "comunities" in the forum. The obvious answer is just too obvious, almost futile: upload the torrents, create the threads,  all that things are done by users. It's absurd to criticise that others don't do something, when you don't do it yourself.
I think those critics are not constructive, because if they were, the answer would be so obvious that the mere question would look stupid. Do it yourself and share something and don't complain about what others don't do.

[zMTz]

Piratebay, this forum, are what users make them to be.
I'm used to read the same criticism about them over an over again: the lack of torrents on piratebay, the lack of "comunities" in the forum. The obvious answer is just too obvious, almost futile: upload the torrents, create the threads,  all that things are done by users. It's absurd to criticise that others don't do something, when you don't do it yourself.
I think those critics are not constructive, because if they were, the answer would be so obvious that the mere question would look stupid. Do it yourself and share something and don't complain about what others don't do.

Although, KATs website integration evidently allowed for the development of a better community, such as the fully integrated forum, social media profile layout, PMs [ now privately in the hands of the USA ] whereas TPB is separated forum + torrent comments.