KickassTorrents (commonly abbreviated KAT) was a website that provided a directory for torrent files and magnet links to facilitate peer-to-peer file sharing using the BitTorrent protocol. (Photo : YouTube / Underground @News)
It appears that The Pirate Bay will continue its reign as King of Torrents while the so-called KAT and Torrentz alternatives will go on serving the needs of torrent fans for some time. A new court ruling ordered that alleged Kickass Torrents Artem Vaulin remain in prison, dashing any hopes that the once most popular torrenting in the planet will soon resume operation.
The Court of Appeals in Poland ruled that Vaulin, a Ukrainian national, will remain in custody of Polish authorities, TorrentFreak reported. The ruling came months after Vaulin's arrest in late July in what appeared as a joint operation conducted by U.S. and Polish government agencies.
Vaulin was charged by the U.S. government of large-scale copyright infringement and money laundering, and will soon face extradition to the United States. With the court ruling, the KAT operator will have to fight off extradition behind bars.
TorrentFreak said that the Polish court rejected the argument filed by Vaulin's defense team - that his supposed operation of the file-sharing site Kickass Torrents did not facilitate any form of copyright infringement and that the U.S. government has no jurisdiction over the Ukrainian citizen. Vaulin's counsel sued for the dismissal of the case.
However, the court ruled that there is sufficient evidence submitted by the U.S. government to warrant Vaulin's continued stay in prison. The ruling also thumbed down the request by Vaulin's lawyer that he be freed under supervision for health reasons. The court said that the Vaulin's medical condition, mentioned in the report as spinal hernia, is not very serious and that he can get the health care he requires while in custody.
And to avoid any possible complications while the extradition case is being heard, the court saw it fit not grant Vaulin temporary freedom. TorrentFreak said that Vaulin's case will be heard again before the end of November.
The latest development indicated that months into it forced shutting down, Kickass Torrents is not returning anytime soon thus leaving the KAT clones and mirrors to continue benefitting from its absence. But it is the KAT alternatives that saw significant traffic spikes following the exit of both Kickass Torrents and Torrentz from the torrent scene.
When it became apparent that Torrentz and KAT's absence will be permanent, it triggered a massive migration that propelled sites like ExtraTorrent.cc, RARBG, 1337x.to and YTS.ag to the top of the most visited torrenting sites.
But it is The Pirate Bay that really benefitted the most from the shutting down. Only weeks after Kickass Torrents and Torrentz were taken down, TPB snatched the King of Torrents crown from KAT and now the site is known as the best and safest alternative to both KAT and Torrentz.
