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/BNO News)
Google and other search engine companies are reportedly working on an agreement with entertainment companies to ban torrent sites. This approach will be executed in order to stop piracy.
According to BGR, the agreements will be effective as of June 1. The discussions which took place recently sought to engage search engine companies in the war against piracy voluntarily.
The war on Torrent sites started several years ago, yet nothing changed until 2016 when the chief of Kickass Torrents in Poland was arrested for copyright infringement amongst other charges. Later on, Torrentz.eu was abruptly taken down. The fate of other torrent websites that are still functional may soon be the same in about three and a half months.
Google was in the past caught in the middle of controversies with the entertainment industry. The conflict arose because the big search engine company was accused of encouraging piracy by providing links in its search engine that make Torrent websites recognizable.
In 2016, Google received millions of requests to take down links that enable users to download copyright content freely. Although Kickass Torrents and Torrentz.eu were taken down, other alternative torrent websites emerged shortly.
Torrent sites were reported to be the biggest cause of downfalls in the entertainment industry, with "Game of Thrones" being the most illegally downloaded content in six subsequent years, Mobi Picker reported.
Although entertainment companies have turned to Google for help, it is speculated that the government will impose strict codes on Search engine companies to prevent them from promoting infringement.
When Torrent website links will be burned by Search engine companies, all will not be lost for the torrenting community because of other possible alternatives. Users of torrent websites can still bookmark the website links and visit them directly without using Google or other search engines.
Piracy has become widespread all over the world because of the free easy to download platforms available on the internet. Things may get better for the entertainment industry if the talks with Google and other Search engine companies become fruitful.
The torrenting community has about three more months before Google takes down all the links. Meanwhile, here are 10 exclusive facts about the world's largest torrent site:
