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)
Speculations are rife that Kickass Torrents will soon be back in a new format and website, which will be known as Kat.cr. It is expected to be launched in February 2017.
Prior to the arrest of Kickass Torrents owner Artem Paulim in July, it used to be the number one torrent website in the world. However, after Paulim's arrest in Poland, the website was forced to shut down and its loyal users drifted to other torrent websites. Numerous mirrors of Kickass Torrents cropped up after the main website went bust, but they also could not sustain themselves and were forced to shut shop due to copyright infringement issues.
The Pirate Bay and Extra Torrent were the biggest gainers after the demise of Kickass Torrents, according to Torrent Freak. Other websites, which also benefitted include RARBG, 1337x and Sumo Torrents.
Despite the fact that RARBG and 1337x are banned in numerous countries but they still manage a decent following. Their customers in the banned countries use the Virtual Private Network to access them and download their favorite torrents.
Dubbed the King of Torrents, The Pirate Bay was the number one torrent website in the world, a few years ago. However, numerous legal issues and the arrest of their owners diminished the traffic on the website. As a result, Kickass Torrents stepped up to the challenge and it soon became the number one torrent website in the world.
Hence, it is very ironical that The Pirate Bay took back its crown as the number one torrent website in the world from Kickass Torrents. However, with the re-launch of Kickass Torrents as Kat.cr in the coming months, the tide could turn in favor of the latter.
On the other hand, Extra Torrent could not rise to the occasion and become the top torrenting website in the world because it is also feeling the heat due to numerous legal issues. Three of its mirrors were shut down and its traffic also took a hit, according to the same publication.
Watch the video to know more about Kickass Torrents here:
