We have all grown up reading stories or watching them in various forms. From mythological history to modern-age narratives. Who doesn’t love a good drama? Some stories are meant especially for entertainment whereas some are real-life stories, and to be honest, the latter ones are more interesting because isn’t reel life inspired by real life? Once such a story of website company ‘KickassTorrents’ and the more you read about it, the more fascinating it gets. If you are someone with a higher interest in technology you probably know what happened with the website, but it’s always good to brush up on old information. If you are someone who has no idea what KickassTorrents is, you must read until the end where we talk about ‘The fall and revival story of KickassTorrents’.
Before we get into more information, we would like to make sure that our readers are completely aware of some of the technical terms that we will be using in this blog.
1- What is a torrent?
It is a system used to distribute files over the internet. The system runs over BitTorrent protocol, an internet transfer protocol, like FTP (file transfer protocol) or HTTP (hypertext transfer protocol), and helps in peer-to-peer file sharing. P2P is used to allow multiple users to access music, movies, books, games, and anything else that can be shared using a P2P software program.
Torrent sharing is highly beneficial as compared to conventional methods of file sharing. For example, expensive server equipment is not needed to share files with multiple people and one can function even with low-bandwidth or slow networks.
But they can sometimes also be dangerous. They are not inherently untrustworthy but it is also important to make sure that you are aware of the source of the torrent file before downloading it. For example, if a file shared using a torrent does not have legal permission, it may be a carrier of a virus or malware.
2- What is metadata
Metadata, in computer terms, is data that has information related to every data on the internet. It does not provide information on the actual content of what is present in the data. For example, metadata can be used to describe the following aspects:
- The purpose behind the data
- The methods and means used for creating the data
- Information related to the computer or system where the data was generated
- The exact time and date on which the information was created
- File size, data quality, data source
There is so much more to it.
What we see on your laptop screen or smart devices is an amalgamation of multiple back-end technologies that work in sync to simply create the interface and give us only what we want. Think of it going to a hardware store and asking the salesperson for a battery to operate a remote control. The salesperson is the authority who will access the entire inventory, sort it, and provide you with what you need in a matter of minutes.
With this information in hand, we can now get to the fall and revival story of KickassTorrents
Abbreviated at KAT, KickassTorrents was a website launched in 2008, which acted as a directory for magnet links and torrent files to allow peer-to-peer file transfer with the help of BitTorrent protocol.
As of 2014, KAT was the most popular, most visited, and most loved BitTorrent directory in the entire world. Nobody was close to the massive following KickassTorrents had. It even managed to beat The Pirate Bay or TPB, which still exists on the internet.
However, on 20th July 2016, KAT went offline when the U.S. government seized the domain name. In what may feel like a scene from a thriller movie, the proxy server, which performs the task of an intermediary between server and client, was shut down by the staff members of KAT at the same time.
Given the popularity of the website, it’s obvious that I want to know the reason why the website no longer functions. It all has to do with copyright infringement cases on the website and its owner. Keep reading to learn more.
The initial domain name for the KickassTorrents was kickasstorrents.comwhich was changed to kat.ph in 2011, following multiple domain seizures conducted by the US Department of Justice on Torrentz and Demonoid. The staff members at KAT planned to keep changing the domain name every 6 months to avoid being seized.
In 2013, KAT received its first major blow when the London High Court ordered the IPS providers in the UK to block all access to the website. The court claimed that the design of the site was related to copyright infringement. After this, there was no turning back for the KAT since it had to be constantly moved to different domains across borders.
Here is a date-wise list of all the blocking requests made by country officials
- In June 2013, Google delisted KAT after a request from MPAA (Motion Picture Association)
- In August 2013, Belgian IPSs blocked KAT
- In January 2014, the movement was observed across Irish IPSs followed by blocking from Twitter
- June 2014 witnessed Malaysia blocking the website
- December 2014 marked Somalia and some more such incidences
The final takedown action happened on the 20th of July 2016 when the owner of the website, a 30-year-old Ukrainian, was arrested by the US Department of Justice. Artem Vaulin was detained in Portugal and the department charged him with:
- Two counts of criminal copyright infringement.
- Conspiracy to commit money laundering
- Conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement
As soon as the US agency seized the main domain name, all of the other domains were taken voluntarily.
No, the story does not end here. The case against the founder of KAT was put on hold when Artem disappeared without a trace from Poland. His legal team withdrew the case after telling the court that they had lost all contact with him. There is hardly any information about him on the internet and KAT made a re-entry in 2016 but sadly since July 2020, it has again gone offline.
Conclusion
The fall and revival story of KickassTorrents remains one of the most-intriguing real-real technological stories so far. The main brain behind the website is still out there and we do not think the story has ended. Only the future will tell us where the chronicles of KickassTorrents take us. Until then all we can do is wait and watch.
