End of illegal downloads? World’s biggest movie and music sharing site CLOSED by cops

KICKASSTORRENTS goes offline in major blow to file sharers.       

GONE: KickassTorrents has been CLOSED by cops

With over one million users every day, KickassTorrents is the officially world's most popular file sharing site.

However, it seems this loved torrent website has had its day with US cops swooping in and closing it down. 

It's owner, Artem Vaulin, was also taken into custody during yesterday's raid and now faces a number of charges including conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and two counts of criminal copyright infringement.

KickassTorrent has become so popular in recent years it's thought to be worth more than $54 million, with estimated annual advertising revenue in the range of $12.5 million to $22.3 million.

            

Assistant Attorney General Leslie Caldwell from the Department of Justice said in a statement: “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.

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

“Copyright infringement exacts a large toll, a very human one, on the artists and businesses whose livelihood hinges on their creative inventions,” added U.S. Attorney Fardon.

“Vaulin allegedly used the Internet to cause enormous harm to those artists.

"Our Cybercrimes Unit at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago will continue to work with our law enforcement partners around the globe to identify, investigate and prosecute those who attempt to illegally profit from the innovation of others.”

This latest file sharing news comes just weeks after a prolific uploader of content to torrent sites was hit with a massive fine.

The unnamed uploader has agreed to pay a cash settlement to Dutch anti-piracy outfit BREIN.

The fine is thought to be in the region of €7,500 (£6,000) which is a hefty sum for using the popular site.

In a statement BREIN said: “The uploader posted frequent torrents for illegal English subtitled movies and TV series on illegal websites such as The Pirate Bay and KickassTorrents,”

“After the other members were identified, the uploader in question stopped uploading and hoped in vain that he would be spared. He was still identified by BREIN.”