![]() ![]() ![]() The head of Megaupload, known by the pseudonym Kim Dotcom, is free on bail in New Zealand pending an effort to extradite him to the US, and vowed earlier this month to revive his operations. ![]() The move comes with US officials in a long battle to extradite the head of Megaupload, a major piracy site shuttered by the FBI in 2012. Vaulin, who used the screen name "tirm," was involved in designing the original website and ran the site which has been operating since 2008 through a Ukrainian-based front company called Cryptoneat.Īccording to the Justice Department, KAT's website "purports to comply with the removal of copyrighted materials" but evidence showed it did not remove content requested by organisations such as the Motion Picture Association of America, the Recording Industry Association of America and Entertainment Software Association. Recently, the website allowed users to download illegal copies of recent hit movies such as Captain America: Civil War, Now You See Me 2, and Finding Dory. KAT has moved its domains several times after being blocked in Britain, Ireland, Italy, Denmark, Belgium and Malaysia, according to the complaint, and has relied on a network of computer servers located around the world, including in Chicago. The website's value is estimated at more than US$54 million, with annual advertising revenue in the range of US$12.5 million to US$22.3 million, according to the complaint. The complaint said officials were able to track and identify Vaulin from records provided by Apple on his iCloud account.Īccording to the complaint, KAT operates in 28 languages and has made available movies that were still in cinemas along with other content, earning revenue from advertising throughout its site. Pirate Bay file sharing site sold for £4.US officials are seeking to extradite Vaulin on charges filed in a federal court in Chicago, which ordered the seizure of one bank account and seven domain names associated with the file-sharing website.Kickass Torrents, also known as KAT, has moved its domain several times due to prior seizures and copyright lawsuits, and it has been ordered blocked by courts in the UK, Ireland, Italy, Denmark, Belgium and Malaysia. In addition to the charges, a federal court in Chicago ordered the seizure of seven domain names associated with Kickass Torrents –, kat.ph, kickass.to,, kickass.so, and kat.cr.Īccording the DOJ complaint, Kickass Torrents' net worth is estimated at more than $54m with estimated annual advertising revenue of between $12.5m and $22.3m. Apple sued for $10 billion by man claiming to have invented iPhone concept in 1992.The copyright-infringement charges carry a maximum sentence of five years in prison, and the money-laundering charge is punishable by up to 20 years. The US government's complaint against Vaulin charges him with one count of conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and two counts of criminal copyright infringement. Meanwhile high-profile Pirate Bay, despite several raids and arrests of its organizers over the years, still remains up and running. Revealed: The internet's most pirated TV shows.In one of the most notorious cases, the FBI shut down in 2012 after the site allegedly caused more than $500million in damages to copyright holders – while legally embattled founder Kim Dotcom has claimed he's going to relaunch the site next January. Captain America: Civil War is one of the hit movies Kickass Torrents made available ![]()
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