US charges alleged KAT file-sharing site owner

US authorities have charged the alleged owner of Kick Ass Torrents (KAT), the current most popular torrent site, with conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement.

The US Department of Justice (DoJ) has announced that the Ukraine’s Artem Vaulin has been arrested in Poland in association with the charges. The DoJ will now seek to extradite him to the US.

As well as the conspiracy charge, Vaulin has been charged with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and two counts of criminal copyright infringement.

The DoJ has also seized websites associated with KAT, which the complaint alleges has hosted copyright material valued at well over $1 billion since it was established in 2008.

The complaint also alleges that KAT is estimated to be the 69th most frequently visited site on the internet with more than 50 million unique visitors per month, has an estimated net worth of more than $54 million and takes in annual revenue of between $12.6 million and $22.3 million.

Vaulin has been accused of designing KAT’s initial website, overseeing its operations and in later years operating the site under the auspices of a Ukrainian-based front company called Cryptoneat.

“In an effort to evade law enforcement, Vaulin allegedly relied on servers located in countries around the world and moved his domains due to repeated seizures and civil lawsuits,” US Assistant Attorney-General Leslie Caldwell commented.

“His arrest in Poland, however, demonstrates again that cybercriminals can run, but they cannot hide from justice.”

Image courtesy of Elias Bizannes under CC