The world's biggest online piracy site goes offline as alleged founder is arrested in Poland

MUMBAI | NEW DELHI: Kabali kicked Kickass off the Internet — was trending for a while on social media on Thursday, more reflective of Rajinikanth hype than any basis in fact. Also trending: searches for the best alternatives to Kickass. On Thursday, the US Department of Justice seized 7 domain names associated with Kickass Torrents — arguably the most visited piracy site — and charged the alleged ringleader with

criminal copyright infringement. The operator was also charged with money laundering and distributing over $1 billion of illegally copied films, music, video games and other content.

The US said Ukrainian Artem Vaulin, 30, had been arrested on Wednesday in Poland and that it would seek his extradition. Vaulin allegedly owns Kickass Torrents, which has been operating since 2008.

From Anurag Kashyap's Udta Punjab to multi-million dollar Hollywood productions such as Captain America: Civil War, Now You See Me 2, Independence Day: Resurgence and Finding Dory, US officials said Kickass Torrents or KAT had consistently listed movies still playing in movie theatres that could be downloaded using file-sharing apps.

Kickass had overtaken The Pirate Bay to become the biggest source of pirated media after legal action against the site. As per the official charges, Kickass offered "a sophisticated and user-friendly environment in which its users are able to search for and locate content" that is protected by copyright.

Torrent sites allowed users to download shows such as Game of Thrones, Madmen, Narcos, House of Cards, Mozart in the Jungle and Bosch within hours of broadcast or release. That forced Indian TV networks like Star, Zee and Viacomowned Colors Infinity to shorten the lag between their US debut and India telecast dates. It also encouraged companies such as Netflix to set up shop in India.

"Thanks to social media, the awareness of the international movies and shows has increased. So if we don't air it close to their US release, viewers have the option of downloading it from torrent sites. That's why broadcasters had to reduce the window," said Vivek Srivastava, business head, English cluster, Times Network. "These sites also affect the monetisation opportunity of rights holders.

Content producers and pay TV operators spend millions on acquiring rights/production, piracy certainly ensures that we don't realise its true potential."