The alleged founder and owner of Kickass Torrents has been successfully apprehended in Poland, says the US Justice Department. Artem Vaulin, 30, is a Ukranian national accused of committing copyright infringement and conspiracy in money laundering in the US through the infamous file-sharing website.
Kickass Torrents is the world’s biggest BitTorrent distribution site which operates in 28 languages and generates $12.5 million to $22.3 million in revenue from advertisements every year. Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell said that is responsible for the illegal distribution of over $1 billion worth of copyrighted material.
Vaulin was able to this by relying on servers located in different parts of the world and by moving his domain after every seizure and civil lawsuits. “His arrest in Poland, however, demonstrates again that cybercriminals can run, but they cannot hide from justice,” said Caldwell.
The website is currently down, though whether this has something to do with the arrest remains unclear.