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Kickass Torrents & Torrentz shutdown news 2016: Torrent site might never reopen

Kristinova V. Justimbaste August 28, 2016 12:37 AM EST

Kickass Torrents logo | Twitter/kickasstorrents

As previously reported, Kickass Torrents (KAT) was shut down on July 20 for its illegal endeavors. Alleged owner Artem Vaulin was captured and jailed by authorities. Many were hopeful for the torrent site's return but recent reports suggest that it might be shut down for good.

Vaulin was arrested in Poland but will face criminal charges in the United States. He was charged by the U.S. District Court in Chicago with conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and two counts of criminal copyright infringement.

Moreover, another organization was linked to KAT. Jared Der-Yeghiayan, a special agent for Homeland Security Investigations, said that the torrent site operated "under the auspices of a Ukranian-based company Cryptoneat." The agent also pointed out that the employees found on LinkedIn who claimed to be working for Cryptoneat were the same employees assigned by Vaulin to perform tasks for the torrent site, as revealed in KAT alert emails.

During its prime, KAT rose to the top of the charts and claimed the title of the most popular torrent site in the world. KAT pushed off another torrent site, The Pirate Bay (TPB), from the spot.

Shortyly after KAT was seized, Torrentz decided to end its operations to avoid the sanctions that KAT faced. Unlike KAT, Torrentz did not host actual torrents on its website. It simply provided people with the opportunity to search for torrents.

Some believe there is still a very slim chance that KAT and Torrentz will resume operations. But other torrent sites might also close its doors soon due to the huge criminal liability that owners face once arrested. TPB, on the other hand, previously helped KAT by providing it with a platform to announce further details about its possible comeback.

So far, the team behind KAT did not express any hints about continuing operations.

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