Largest torrent site's owner arrested, Apple data crucial to investigators

AppleInsider

An iTunes account and the associated Apple email address were keys to the investigation leading to a takedown of the head of the world's largest torrent aggregator.

Ukranian national Artem Vaulin was arrested and charged in Poland on Tuesday for his involvement in the "KickassTorrents" (KAT) site. The arrest concluded several years of investigation, and encompasses two counts of criminal copyright infringement, conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement, and a money laundering charge stemming from his purchase of legal content from the an iTunes media store.

The sequence of events from start to finish span several cooperative efforts between advertising agencies, Apple, Facebook, and financial institutions. Latvian banking information was gleaned from an advertisement placed on the site by law enforcement, which allowed investigators to glean a valid email address for Vaulin, and direct connections to several KAT fansites and Facebook groups associated with the site.

Using basic "WhoIs" and website ownership services, law enforcement discovered two name server IP addresses that KAT used for several years. The name servers were reportedly tracked back to Vaulin in march 2016, after law enforcement was given access to the Chicago-based server logs. For the first time in the eight-year investigation, an actual name for the site owner was known.

Also discovered by US Homeland Security through the name server data was an associated email Apple email for Vaulin. The Apple email was used by the same IP address to purchase iTunes content, as well as manage one of the KAT Facebook properties.

The same email address also was used for the KAT Bitcoin wallet, and was associated with a $72,000 transfer to a Coinbase account belonging to Vaulin.

The US is seeking forfeiture of the seven domains associated with KAT, and extradition of Vaulin for trial. Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell said that Vaulin "stole more than $1 billion in profits from the U.S. entertainment industry" in his role as the head of the site.

Despite the attorney general's claims about lost profits, which always come under fire from critics, Vaulin allegedly reaped $31 million in deposits from advertising on the site between August 2015 and March 2016. KAT ran for eight years, and the Department of Justice claims that it receives more than 50 million unique visitors per month and is the 69th most frequently visited website on the internet.

KickassTorrents never actually hosted the infringing content. The site was a torrent file tracker, providing a search engine to discover files that allowed a BitTorrent client to identify who had a wanted movie, album, or book available. Notices were posted on the site claiming that they respond to Digital Millennium Copyright Act content removal requests, but how often such requests were fielded is unknown.

The site's content and indices were delisted in 2013 from Google, at the behest of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). Mirrors of KAT databases pop up from time to time, and are indexed for a time until Google identifies the source of the originating data.

BitTorrent itself is not illegal, but frequently comes under fire for enabling the easy and rapid distribution of pirated digital content. The underlying technology is frequently used to distribute game patches, such as Blizzard's World of Warcraft, and a similar implementation was used to deliver the Windows 10 update and subsequent patches to users.

TurboPGT

When are content providers going to wake up and start competing with piracy? There is literally no other way to beat it. For every site they take down and person they arrest, 10 more spring up in its place. It is always going to exist. You just have to incentivize the legal options. 

1) Theaters are dead, and are not making as much money as digital distribution could. New releases that are $10-15 per ticket in the theatre? They need to be available on streaming services the same day, to rent, for a premium. Instead of spending upwards of $20-40 for a couple or family to go to a movie, make the new release $29-49 to rent. With strict limitations during the launch period. 

2) iTunes needs a new model. Apple Video, or whatever they'd call it. $19.99 a month to stream the entire catalog of movies and tv shows. No ownership. Purely streaming, as well as downloads with DRM.

maestro64

oh this is going to hurt, I can hear the asses pukering in the torrent world.

They caught this guy the same way the caught that guy who ran the silkroad on the darknet. These techies think they are smarter than everyone and will not get caught.

MacPro

Yes it certainly has a tainted reputation as a distribution system for me at least.  Window 10 and its auto updated using Torrent technology amazed me when i saw it as an option in the set up.  I instinctively declined that option (along with every other option in Custom set up too I might add).

MacPro

TurboPGT said:

When are content providers going to wake up and start competing with piracy? There is literally no other way to beat it. For every site they take down and person they arrest, 10 more spring up in its place. It is always going to exist. You just have to incentivize the legal options. 

1) Theaters are dead, and are not making as much money as digital distribution could. New releases that are $10-15 per ticket in the theatre? They need to be available on streaming services the same day, to rent, for a premium. Instead of spending upwards of $20-40 for a couple or family to go to a movie, make the new release $29-49 to rent. With strict limitations during the launch period. 

2) iTunes needs a new model. Apple Video, or whatever they'd call it. $19.99 a month to stream the entire catalog of movies and tv shows. No ownership. Purely streaming, as well as downloads with DRM.

Not talking about movies here as you are, but for apps, my two cents here is Apple's amazingly low prices for purchasing its software and family usage/sharing plans with free updates is probably the only solution to battling software piracy.  Renting at high costs like Adobe not so much.

As to movies, IMHO there are so few good ones these days and TV content has improved so much thanks to technology it's not just prices here.  In fact, ironically,  my wife and I found CinéBistro a wonderful experience (no under 21 helps!) where the movie cost far more than normal not to mention the drinks and fillet mignons.  That said, for the most part Netflix and TV shows suffice for us with a few beers and a bowl of popcorn at home.  For the few really good movies each year, it's CinéBistro and damn the cost from now on!

gatorguy

digitalclips said:

TurboPGT said:

When are content providers going to wake up and start competing with piracy? There is literally no other way to beat it. For every site they take down and person they arrest, 10 more spring up in its place. It is always going to exist. You just have to incentivize the legal options. 

1) Theaters are dead, and are not making as much money as digital distribution could. New releases that are $10-15 per ticket in the theatre? They need to be available on streaming services the same day, to rent, for a premium. Instead of spending upwards of $20-40 for a couple or family to go to a movie, make the new release $29-49 to rent. With strict limitations during the launch period. 

2) iTunes needs a new model. Apple Video, or whatever they'd call it. $19.99 a month to stream the entire catalog of movies and tv shows. No ownership. Purely streaming, as well as downloads with DRM.

Not talking about movies here as you are, but for apps, my two cents here is Apple's amazingly low prices for purchasing its software and family usage/sharing plans with free updates is probably the only solution to battling software piracy.  Renting at high costs like Adobe not so much.

As to movies, IMHO there are so few good ones these days and TV content has improved so much thanks to technology it's not just prices here.  In fact, ironically,  my wife and I found CinéBistro a wonderful experience (no under 21 helps!) where the movie cost far more than normal not to mention the drinks and fillet mignons.  That said, for the most part Netflix and TV shows suffice for us with a few beers and a bowl of popcorn at home.  For the few really good movies each year, it's CinéBistro and damn the cost from now on!

Heard someone talking about them just a couple of days back, and like you they spoke highly of the experience. I wish there was one closer to us, but we'll eventually make it to one fairly soon despite the travel, perhaps even the same as you visit.

volcan

digitalclips said:

Renting at high costs like Adobe not so much.

Funny how ADBE stock is through the roof and piracy of their products is virtually nonexistent, mostly just viruses disguised as cracks from what I've read. Best thing is with CC, the titles are getting updated on almost a monthly basis with tons of new features, unlike what the haters had predicted. Couldn't be happier with my CC suite.

gatorguy

volcan said:

digitalclips said:

Renting at high costs like Adobe not so much.

Funny how ADBE stock is through the roof and piracy of their products is virtually nonexistent, not to mention that the titles are getting updated on almost a monthly basis with tons of new features, unlike what the haters had predicted. Couldn't be happier with the CC suite.

Lightroom subscription not so much. There's still very little benefit to CC over the standalone LR6, with few differences of any importance. Two years on and improvements have been slow as heck IMHO. 

volcan

gatorguy said:
Lightroom subscription not so much. There's still very little benefit to CC over the standalone LR6, with few differences of any importance. Two years on and improvements have been slow as heck IMHO. 

There are several CC apps that I do not use, and Lr is one of them. I use all the publishing apps Ai, Id, Ps, Pr, Ae, Dw, An and Acrobat which are getting frequent updates.

MacPro

volcan said:

digitalclips said:

Renting at high costs like Adobe not so much.

Funny how ADBE stock is through the roof and piracy of their products is virtually nonexistent, mostly just viruses disguised as cracks from what I've read. Best thing is with CC, the titles are getting updated on almost a monthly basis with tons of new features, unlike what the haters had predicted. Couldn't be happier with my CC suite.

I never said it wasn't profitable or not a good way to stop piracy,  but meant it just darned expensive in the long run compared to Apple's model.  Then I admit Adobe can't make money on hardware so I guess it's all OK.  Steam has kind of the same model as Apple now I think about it.

MacPro

gatorguy said:

volcan said:

Funny how ADBE stock is through the roof and piracy of their products is virtually nonexistent, not to mention that the titles are getting updated on almost a monthly basis with tons of new features, unlike what the haters had predicted. Couldn't be happier with the CC suite.

Lightroom subscription not so much. There's still very little benefit to CC over the standalone LR6, with few differences of any importance. Two years on and improvements have been slow as heck IMHO. 

The only CC I have is Muse.  All my other Adobe Software is pre cloud, i.e. stand alone.  Muse has been updated a lot but it's probably an exception as it was so new.

MacPro

gatorguy said:

digitalclips said:

Not talking about movies here as you are, but for apps, my two cents here is Apple's amazingly low prices for purchasing its software and family usage/sharing plans with free updates is probably the only solution to battling software piracy.  Renting at high costs like Adobe not so much.

As to movies, IMHO there are so few good ones these days and TV content has improved so much thanks to technology it's not just prices here.  In fact, ironically,  my wife and I found CinéBistro a wonderful experience (no under 21 helps!) where the movie cost far more than normal not to mention the drinks and fillet mignons.  That said, for the most part Netflix and TV shows suffice for us with a few beers and a bowl of popcorn at home.  For the few really good movies each year, it's CinéBistro and damn the cost from now on!

Heard someone talking about them just a couple of days back, and like you they spoke highly of the experience. I wish there was one closer to us, but we'll eventually make it to one fairly soon despite the travel, perhaps even the same as you visit.

Great for a special occasion.  The Sarasota one is stunning.  It's like a cross between a first class plane trip and a cruise.   Be warned kids can go to matinees so go after 6!  

tallest skil

roger wade said:

Fuck you Apple.

Don't be a scab.

TurboPGT

digitalclips said:

TurboPGT said:

When are content providers going to wake up and start competing with piracy? There is literally no other way to beat it. For every site they take down and person they arrest, 10 more spring up in its place. It is always going to exist. You just have to incentivize the legal options. 

1) Theaters are dead, and are not making as much money as digital distribution could. New releases that are $10-15 per ticket in the theatre? They need to be available on streaming services the same day, to rent, for a premium. Instead of spending upwards of $20-40 for a couple or family to go to a movie, make the new release $29-49 to rent. With strict limitations during the launch period. 

2) iTunes needs a new model. Apple Video, or whatever they'd call it. $19.99 a month to stream the entire catalog of movies and tv shows. No ownership. Purely streaming, as well as downloads with DRM.

Not talking about movies here as you are, but for apps, my two cents here is Apple's amazingly low prices for purchasing its software and family usage/sharing plans with free updates is probably the only solution to battling software piracy.  Renting at high costs like Adobe not so much.

As to movies, IMHO there are so few good ones these days and TV content has improved so much thanks to technology it's not just prices here.  In fact, ironically,  my wife and I found CinéBistro a wonderful experience (no under 21 helps!) where the movie cost far more than normal not to mention the drinks and fillet mignons.  That said, for the most part Netflix and TV shows suffice for us with a few beers and a bowl of popcorn at home.  For the few really good movies each year, it's CinéBistro and damn the cost from now on!

Cost and availability of content are the number one drivers of piracy. Its not only because people want to steal instead of buy. In many cases, there is no option to buy (or rent).

Not saying any of this deplorable behavior is excusable, but I am saying that there is no legal replacement where it counts:

1) When someone can download a torrent of a TV episode many hours before it is available on iTunes or Hulu, et al, they will...and they will watch it, and that's it.

2) When someone can download a shitty cam/telesync of a film currently in theaters, instead of renting it on iTunes or elsewhere...they will.

3) When someone can get an entire TV series for nothing, as opposed to for $50 for a single season from iTunes....they will.

To fix this, you:

1) Ensure that recently aired episodes are available immediately after airing for streaming/download.
2) Break the mold and start releasing films digitally and in theaters at the same time, but at a premium for the first few months.
3) Establish a subscription plan for all movies, all tv shows in the entire store, and make it so that people can set it and forget it, and never need to seek out a file elsewhere again.

[Deleted User]

volcan said:

digitalclips said:

Renting at high costs like Adobe not so much.

Funny how ADBE stock is through the roof and piracy of their products is virtually nonexistent, mostly just viruses disguised as cracks from what I've read. Best thing is with CC, the titles are getting updated on almost a monthly basis with tons of new features, unlike what the haters had predicted. Couldn't be happier with my CC suite.

Non-existant?! what planet are you on, you can get pirate versions of anything from Adobe, Autodesk, Microsoft etc. Stupidly easy these days. And the cracked versions get the updates too without any problems.

And on the article, I'm not sure if google delisting KAT was a US-only thing as if I (based in Scotland) type *any-movie-game-software-title* then the word "torrent" after it into google, KAT almost always comes up in the top 5 results. The proper kat site, not a dodgy mirror.

lostkiwi

TurboPGT said:

digitalclips said:

Not talking about movies here as you are, but for apps, my two cents here is Apple's amazingly low prices for purchasing its software and family usage/sharing plans with free updates is probably the only solution to battling software piracy.  Renting at high costs like Adobe not so much.

To fix this, you:

1) Ensure that recently aired episodes are available immediately after airing for streaming/download.
2) Break the mold and start releasing films digitally and in theaters at the same time, but at a premium for the first few months.
3) Establish a subscription plan for all movies, all tv shows in the entire store, and make it so that people can set it and forget it, and never need to seek out a file elsewhere again.

Gotta say that I agree with Turbo here.  If there is a subscription/all you can eat streaming plan (similar to Apple Music) at a reasonable price, people will gravitate to it.  Piracy will drop off.  If is fast, convenient and reasonably priced, why wouldn't you?

Can't see it happening though.  Too many studio execs with their head up their arse.

JamesBrickley

TurboPGT said:

When are content providers going to wake up and start competing with piracy? There is literally no other way to beat it. For every site they take down and person they arrest, 10 more spring up in its place. It is always going to exist. You just have to incentivize the legal options. 

The entire media industry is completely in denial over the idea of piracy.  The pirates are filling the void the media refuses to fill.  It's free market capitalism driven by disruptive technology.  

It is remarkable how much better the experience can be than what is available from legit sources. This goes way way beyond the kat.cr site.  These pirate systems are fully automated to the point of typing in what you want and get it in less than 10 minutes.  The Internet becomes your DVR.  I bet the TV pirates are recording on custom DVR systems, stripping the commercials, transcoding and uploading all with zero human intervention. You can even have a system watch for something and grab it the moment it's posted.  The DMCA's cannot keep up with it, by the time the content is removed (even with automated DMCA filing and fulfilling) it's already been downloaded a hundred thousand times.  The content is then re-uploaded and shared across many different systems like a virus.

How do you combat superior open source tools and free distribution networks with impressive automation?  How do you compete with the pirates?  Well for TV you offer a simulcast stream for a premium with a discount for next day.  You offer sports live streamed with no blackouts and charge a reasonable rate.  You allow customers to buy what they want when they want it. Offer it both in stream and download with no DRM to get in the way.  You allow full ala carte show by show keeping the price low. You offer the entire catalog, you don't remove older episodes or seasons.  You will collect much more valuable viewer metrics than Nielsen.  You will make customers happy and if you keep it simple and easy to find the content and obtain the content they will spend more money.  For movies you start streaming a few weeks after theater release globally.  You stream for a premium at first then drop the price.  You release full downloads with no DRM for a reasonable price. You remove all the silly restrictions, boundaries, etc.  

Right now the pirates are a small segment of the viewing population and that is because it's not exactly easy to set this stuff up and keep it working. But it's getting easier and easier all the time to the point that non-techies are setting it up.  Stop thinking you are losing money to piracy, you are losing so much more money by abusing your customers and those who want to be customers but are ignored.  There is an enormous global untapped market that you are actually fighting when you go after pirates.  You will save so much money just not paying your attorney's and court fees and lobbying Congress. You will make many times more money just giving the consumer what they want.  You need to make it crazy simple to get the content and pay for it but you need to seriously drop the costs.  If it's cheap and easy customers will flock to you and spend more money.  People are willing to pay but there are so many restrictions, limits, high costs that are keeping the sales low.   All the media companies need to work together to solve the problem.  You are burning free money and you behave like the fire is not real.   HBO Now made a fortune with new customers and it's growing every month.  The idea of access to the entire HBO back catalog of shows for $15/mo with no contract is impressive.  Bundling in some movies makes it even more attractive but it would be better if they let you ala carte select only the shows you want and pay less and pay for a movie rental on the fly, etc.  Expanding the catalog of movies would help but I think that is because HBO only has the rights to movies for a period of time.  Netflix has the same problem, they license the movies and shows for a limited time.  Disney used to stop distributing animated movies on DVD.  That was stupid, kids destroy DVD's and then you couldn't buy another copy if you wanted to.  Forget discs it's all digital files online now.  Why restrict access to older content? Especially kids animated movies? There are new kids being born daily!  It costs next to nothing to allow copies of digital files.  It's not like you have to press the discs, package them, pay the printer for the labeling and artwork, store them in warehouses, ship them on trucks to stores, etc., etc.  Content creators and media companies deserve to be paid but it's like they don't want the money!