Feds Seize KickassTorrents Domains, Arrest Owner

[Ernesto]

The sudden shutdown last month of KickassTorrents left a sizeable hole in the torrent landscape. KAT was the largest torrent index on the planet and much-loved by those who frequented it.

On day one of the shutdown, the United States government revealed that they had one prime suspect in their sights. Ukrainian Artem Vaulin was said to be the mastermind of KickassTorrents, coordinating an international operation through Cryptoneat, a front company in Kharkiv, Ukraine.

Yesterday the United States officially indicted Vaulin (aka ‘tirm’) along with two of his alleged KickassTorrents co-conspirators – Oleksandr Radostin (aka ‘pioneer’) and Ievgen Kutsenko (aka ‘chill’). All are said to have worked at Cryptoneat but little else is known about them. Today we can put some meat on the bones.

Artem Vaulin

Artem Vaulin is a 30-year-old man from Ukraine. Born in 1985, he is married with a young son. According to an investigation carried out by Vesti, his business life had simple roots.

After graduating from school, Vaulin went on to set up a vending machine business focusing on chewing gum and soft toys.

“My parents gave me $3000. They said: ‘Cool, you do not have to count on us. Now you have your own money’,” Vaulin told reporters in 2004.

Since then, Vaulin’s business empire seems to have taken off but despite reportedly having interests in several local companies (three with registered capital of more than $8.5m total), Vaulin appears to have been able to keep a reasonably low profile.

However, it is Vaulin’s love of squash that leads us to the only images available of him online. Ukrainian squash portal Squashtime.com.ua has a full profile, indicating his date and place of birth, and even his racquet preference.

Vesti approached the club where Vaulin trained but due to data protection issues it would not share any information on the businessman. However, local news resource Segodnya tracked down Vaulin’s squash coach, Evgeny Ponomarenko.

“I know it only from the positive side. Artem is a good man and a family man with a growing son,” Ponomarenko said.

Vaulin is also said to have signed petitions on the Ukranian president’s website, one requesting that the country join NATO and another seeking to allow Ukranians to receive money from abroad via PayPal.

Oleksandr (Alexander) Radostin

Alexander Radostin appears to have been a software architect and/or lead engineer at Cryptoneat but other than that, very little is known about him.

There are several references to him online in Ukraine in relation to the shutdown of KickassTorrents, but most merely speculate that as an employee of Cryptoneat, Radostin might be best placed to confirm Vaulin’s current arrest status.

Many former Cryptoneat employees have purged their social networking presence but some of Radostin’s details are still available via Ukranian-based searches, including the Linkedin image below.

While almost nothing is known about the third indicted KickassTorrents operator, Ievgen Kutsenko, images of the offices from where he and his colleagues allegedly ran the site can be hunted down.

The image below shows a screenshot from a Ukranian job seeking site where Cryptoneat had a page. It lists both Vaulin and Radostin to the right of some tiny thumbnails of photographs apparently taken inside the Kickass/Cryptoneat offices.

TF managed to track down a full-size version of the third image from the left and the environment looks very nice indeed.

While Vaulin is currently being held in a Polish jail, the whereabouts of his alleged co-conspirators is unknown. However, if they are still in Ukraine it might not be straightforward to have them extradited to the United States.

“Ukraine and the United States do not have an extradition treaty,” the U.S. Embassy confirms on its Ukraine website.

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



Originally Published: Fri, 26 Aug 2016 17:38:33 +0000
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[baktura]

https://www.kickassbay.to/full/

I noticed this a few days ago. I think it's a bit of the old site back.

[AliBatman]

Please don't post Illegal , Fake domains in Public Forums they just mislead people and hack their systems etc.The real Kat domain is https://katcr.co/new/

[repayfriendship]

It's been 10 years since I did anything illegal. To give the guy a chance not all torrents are illegal. I'm trying to upload my software however I have forgotten how to upload a torrent. It's not as simple as like a server. However it is a dirty playground in general and the public tends to look down on torrent sites. I was a heavy user back then and now I'm complete with that. It's a new life for me. I would rather stay on the legal side. I have too much to lose now. Back then I was foolish and didn't realize what a mess of my life I would have however it is too late and now I am starting over. Look at it this way..... I have my real mom left who is sheltering me under her roof. I cannot get a job. I am diagnosed a bad name that people will have a hard time accepting in society. So take it from me torrenting if you do make sure you are uploading and downloading legal items. I am a developer and I am able to afford to upload my new warez because I am starting out and it is for advertisement. I might have to support my kid one day if I get that far in life. Anyways I have been around for 10 years however it is my first debut in the public forum confessing that you need to keep it legal. That small percentage of people that get caught could be you. You think it will not happen however I got caught for even something I did in secret. There is no hiding from God! I don't like to talk about religion too much because people don't want to here it. However I am a true believer that God takes justice seriously!!!!!!!!!!!! I have been through crime and back and I know God's eyes are everywhere.

[bubanee]

Just read all this, it was sad that KAT went...

[psms]

Please don't post Illegal , Fake domains in Public Forums they just mislead people and hack their systems etc.The real Kat domain is https://katcr.co/new/

https://katcr.co/new/ ... sure it's real kat domain

Sid edited Dec 18, 2017 17:39 pm this post because: Yes, it's the real KAT domain. Or as close to real as you're ever going to get. Specifically, it is a legitimate torrent site set up from scratch (a year ago) by former senior Kat staffers in the tradition of KAT.

[politux]

AliBatman Wrote: The real Kat domain is https://katcr.co/new/

Is this a joke? I click on the lossless category and nothing is found. Killer site...

Also when you click the search bar you get redirected to an ad.  Classy.

---

Just read all this, it was sad that KAT went...

Bubs I have mad respect for you as an uploader but kat deserved to die. The DMCA policy was removing torrents faster than we could upload them. Not to mention tyrannical mods/staff who valued censorship of ideas over free speech.  (Present company excluded.) Also the owner logged into his apple accounts and the kat facebook page from the same IP he used to admin the site.

[contrail]

Also the owner logged into his apple accounts and the kat facebook page from the same IP he used to admin the site.

I get the vibe that you should not intertwine or ever be associated with social media and the monopolistic sick companies. Capitalism will sell you out.

[ravarage]

there is huge update on site that is why , all will be finish soon

[paooleole]

there are numerous fake kickasstorrents domains
It's very easy for a simple user of internet to get deceived

All of these fake domains want you to register to download a torrent
Oh my god, what a mess!
I didn't know the situation with KAT and fortunately read the articles of torrentfreak.com and got informed about this very confusing situation there

The Piratebay is the paradise!