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)
More than a month after the KickassTorrents shutdown (followed shortly by the closing down of meta-search Torrentz.eu) the chance remains slim that the file-sharing site will be able to stage a successful comeback. The Pirate Bay, the best KAT alternative at the moment, did it before so why not KickassTorrents?
With no clear indicators that KickassTorrents is preparing to resume operations and the site's alleged owner Artem Vaulin still held in a Polish prison, it should be safe to assume that KAT is gone for good. But according to MobiPicker, the once most popular torrenting site in the world is far from dead.
While the U.S. government has already seized most of the domains used by KickassTorrents when it was still up some remains untouched. MobiPicker identified the URLs KAT.cr and Kickas.cr as domains that were associated with KickassTorrents and apparently they remain accessible but currently without the usual KAT services of free torrent downloads and site community functions.
The two domains are registered in Costa Rica and were last reported for sale so the chance is there that it will be grabbed and used for the rebuilt KickassTorrents. The operator will not be necessarily Vaulin or any of his former KAT teammates but KAT.cr and Kickass.cr going live again, even if they will most function as mirrors or clones, would be the best thing next to the original KickassTorrents.
However, having a near doppelganger is not always a good thing. Strong case in point is the virtual KickassTorrents replica that KAT.am was. The mirror site went live just days after KickassTorrents was forced offline but was soon taken down as well.
Unsurprisingly, KAT.am resurfaced but no longer handled by the previous owner. Instead, the site was taken over by scammers that redesigned the operation to solely steal credit card information.
But really, a true KAT comeback is technically possible, according to TorrentFreak. KickassTorrents replicating what The Pirate Bay did in 2015 is not impossible "as there are probably some backups available (that Vaulin has stashed away some place)," the report added.
In reality, however, a reborn KickassTorrents will be a mere shadow of its former self. For one, "the site has been heavily compromised and ... it would be a risky endeavor," TorrentFreak said.
As for users of the new KickassTorrents, the idea that authorities have full access to KAT data only suggests that visiting the rebuilt site will expose them to potential risks, the report added. And that makes The Pirate Bay and ExtraTorrent or other similar sites the best torrenting alternatives not only now but also in the foreseeable future.
