On July 20, U.S. government officials seized the website KickAssTorrents (KAT) and arrested the alleged founder of the site, Artem Vaulin. The site facilitated pirated seeding and downloading of copyrighted material through various BitTorrent platforms.
Bitcoin Exchange Helps Feds
An interesting part of the story, which may concern Bitcoin supporters, is the fact that the San Francisco-based exchange Coinbase helped federal agents. In 2012, KAT started accepting Bitcoin donations, and U.S. officials say records received from Coinbase revealed the Bitcoin donation address was maintained by the exchanges services. The Coinbase account was registered to Artem Vaulin located in Kharkiv, Ukraine. The affidavit reports that $72,767 USD in bitcoin had entered the owner’s donation wallet.
Brian Armstrong, Coinbase CEO
Brian Armstrong, Coinbase CEO
KAT was one of the most popular torrent sites held on the internet receiving millions of users per day. Copyright advocates and law enforcement imposed ISP blockades numerous times over the years but weren’t able to take the site down until this week. It seems the substantial evidence against Vaulin will be enough to prosecute him and keep the site from coming back. While it’s unlikely that common users will be targeted, it is still possible that the surmounting evidence collected could be used against some of them.
Copyright holders who sought to shut down the site and arrest Vaulin include the MPAA, RIAA, and the ESA. Complaints say that many music album links were held on the site and torrents for movies such as Deadpool, Captain America, the Hangover, and more. Crackdowns like this have become more prevalent over the years as KAT joins the likes of the PirateBay, which has been shut down many times. Nevertheless, the PirateBay is fully functional at the moment, which is a testament to the decentralized technology’s “BitTorrent effect” or resistance to shut down.
more : https://news.bitcoin.com/coinbase-helps-fbi-shut-kickasstorrents/