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How Apple and Facebook Helped To Take Down KickassTorrents (pcworld.com)
Reader itwbennett writes (edited): Artem Vaulin, the alleged owner of the torrent directory service KickassTorrents, was arrested in Poland earlier this week, charged with copyright infringement and money laundering. As we dig deeper as to what exactly happened, it turns out Apple and Facebook were among the companies that handed over data to the U.S. in its investigation. Department of Homeland Security investigators traced IP addresses associated with KickassTorrents domains to a Canadian ISP, which turned over server data, including emails. At some point, investigators noticed that Vaulin had an Apple email account that was used to make iTunes purchases from two IP addresses -- both of which also accessed a Facebook account promoting KickassTorrents.if you're wondering where exactly iTunes came into play, here's a further explanation. It all started in November 2015, when an undercover IRS Special Agent reached out to a KickassTorrents representative about hosting an advertisement on the site. An agreement was made and the ad, which purportedly advertised a program to study in the United States, was to be placed on individual torrent listings for $300 per day. When it finally went live on March 14th 2016, a link appeared underneath the torrent download buttons for five days. Sure it was a short campaign, but it was enough to link KAT to a Latvian bank account, one that received $31 million in deposits -- mainly from advertising payments -- between August 2015 and March 2016. Upon further investigation of the email accounts, and corresponding reverse lookups, it was found that the account holder had made a purchase on iTunes.
Remember Al Capone got done in by not paying his taxes.
The article doesn't seem to say it, but it looks like Apple and Facebook probably just replied to standard (presumably well-formed) requests from law enforcement to hand over information about a suspect in a criminal copyright case.
Regardless of how you feel about criminal copyright as a thing (and if this bloke was making $31m in your months it's hard to think of him as a brave fighter for copyright reform :), if this is what happened then at least I feel ok about it. He wasn't caught in a massive dragnet that invaded the piracy of millions; it was a targeted search done lawfully with due process.
There might be more info in the full complaint but it's a bit much reading for me so I'll make do with this somewhat inflammatory headline and my uninformed opinion!
yeah, all he had to do was make the site free to use with no advertising and not make any money off it
If the servers operated outside the US, and the owner lived outside the US, how does the USA think they have jurisdiction to charge him? Are all American companies subject to laws in every other country as their websites are accessible to users in those countries?
The guy running the torrent site is buying stuff on iTunes?
I went so far as to look into the IRS Criminal Investigation manual, and I will admit it was a challenge to take it all in. But I found it quite curious that the IRS were the ones who initiated this investigation. (see page 21 of https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndil/file/877591/download ) Not much more is said about it, but I have to question why was the IRS investigating a torrent site? Is it because someone running it may have been in the US, and may have been profiting from it? That is the only thing I can think of, but that leads to all kinds of other questions.
My beliefs do not require that you agree with them.
But apple will not help the FBI unlock phones
American companies are sued all the time in other countries. For example, Brizillian authorities arrested Google's top executive in Brazil after officials said he violated the South American country's election law when he didn't take down online videos that allegedly slandered a political candidate.
So, it's not just the United States, and indeed it happens quite often all over the world.
If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
Perhaps you should read copyright law?
Money has absolutely nothing to do wether there is an infringement or not.
I think you missed the poster's point. The guy was tracked and found by the ads.
It had fuck all to do with the IRS, either, considering this guy wasn't a US citizen. He wasn't even Polish, he was a Ukrainian living in Poland.
As to why the US government is involved at all, if you don't know the answer to that then you just haven't been paying attention.
More seriously, he made a large number of enormous mistakes, here are the biggest:
1. Looks like his real name was on the goddamn hosting for KAT. Perfect job for an anonymous shell company held by a Russian lawyer, but instead he left a business card on a neat little stand at the crime scene.
2. Not separating his real name completely from his identity as KAT admin OR his casual pseudonym. He should've created a completely new identity for the KAT admin that doesn't touch any others with a 30-foot pole.
3. Apparently he thought Canada was a good place to host the servers safe from the reach of US lawmen. Such a US-unfriendly place this is, that he felt confident storing incriminating info on the server for some reason.
4. Insufficient money laundering. He even could've accepted ad payments in Bitcoin. Really, he put less effort into laundering criminal proceeds than your average 1%er puts into not paying taxes.
5. Being on Facebook never helps.
In short, he was running this operation almost completely in the open, relying only on the assumption that he couldn't be extradited and the obfuscation of naming the company Cryptoneat instead of KickassTorrents Inc. to keep his ass out of prison. Ross "You'll take payment in Bitcoin without a second thought, Mr. Mob Boss? Seems Legit." Ulbricht looks like a genius in comparison.
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
Don't think we have a Global Government? Think Again!! You can run a site that's perfectly legal in the jurisdiction in which you operate it, make money off it which is perfectly legal in the jurisdiction in which it operates, not even be a US Citizen, or even a citizen of the country you reside in, but the friendly US Government will still come kick your door down and cart you off to the inner empire to a kangaroo court where you'll be railroaded into pleading guilty to charges you have no chance of fighting against.
I mean if the United States INTERNAL Revenue Service can investigate a Ukranian citizen living in Poland for "conspiracy" to launder money, does any nation on this planet, save Iran or North Korea, really have any sovereignty from the United States?
It had fuck all to do with the IRS, either, considering this guy wasn't a US citizen. He wasn't even Polish, he was a Ukrainian living in Poland.
As to why the US government is involved at all, if you don't know the answer to that then you just haven't been paying attention.
1. Non-US citizens can violate US tax laws.
2. You'd really have to be "not paying attention" to know that countries routinely attempt to extradite and prosecute people for committing violations of the prosecuting country's law.
Apple and Facebook were served with warrants that required them to turn over the information. They did not. This isn't 'help', its just following the law.
Peace, or Not?
That was my 2nd thought. Really, the guy that runs KAT has an iTunes account and thought that was a good idea? He had to know that Apple would be one of the main groups gunning for him. Kinda ballsy, or stupid.
My first thought was what "Canadian ISP" gave up his personal information? We are supposed to have strong privacy laws in Canada, what exactly happened here? A Canadian ISP would be legally obligated if given a Canadian Warrant, not an American one. The US (RIAA/MPAA) has in the past repeatedly tried to use exactly that method along with a bunch of "John Doe" IP addresses, and it was my understanding that the ISP's told them to take a hike.
This sounds like a potential violation of privacy law in Canada. Devil is in the details likely in that a request would have to go to Canadian law enforcement, to obtain and serve a warrant, and if they were given enough justification and evidence to do so legally (or did the ISP just give up the information voluntarily).
Give me a fucking break. He had no assets in the United States, was not operating a company in the United States, seems to have had no ties to the United States.
And by your definition, a Mexican citizen who commits murder in Mexico should be extradited and tried under US laws? Explain that to me, please, I'll be waiting there, friendly.
And by your definition, a Mexican citizen who commits murder in Mexico should be extradited and tried under US laws?
1. He's charged with infringing on the copyrights of US entities, so the victims are Americans. If you mastermind a bank robbery in NYC, but do it from Poland, you can still be charged in the US and extradited (the converse is true as well, of course).
2. He took ad revenue from US entities, creating another link to the US, (and the grounds for the money laundering charge, I believe).
3. He's not actually charged with violating US tax laws - I believe the IRS involvement is primarily that their investigators have a lot of experience dealing with money laundering cases.
4. Looks like he also leased some US-located servers at one point for email service, creating a further US link.
Insufficient money laundering. He even could've accepted ad payments in Bitcoin. Really, he put less effort into laundering criminal proceeds than your average 1%er puts into not paying taxes.
He was a complete nerd and had to look up "money laundering" in a dictionary.
Secession is the right of all sentient beings.
Give me a fucking break. He had no assets in the United States, was not operating a company in the United States, seems to have had no ties to the United States.
He was selling to people in the United States and made money from that. There's your connection.
Facebook and Apple are notorious enemies of Free Culture, and they acted accordingly. This is not surprising.
Of course. Funnel his ill-gotten gains through a bunch of legitimate businesses, i.e. money laundering.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
But that was not the point he wanted to make.
He basically claimed if the guy had run his torrents add free and made no money it would not be a copyright infringement. At least that is how I understood it.
Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
I have read the complaint and the seem to be charging him with not getting permission to link to a file and for putting ads on his site, neither of which is, as far as I know, a crime in any jurisdiction. Which might explain why he didn't try to "hide his tracks" -- why should he? Oh yes, they do say he "stole" over a billion dollars, but that's like saying High TImes sold billions of dollars worth of pot. They don't claim he actually receieved any of this mythical billion, which makes "stole" hard to understand.
This isn't a troll: I actually don't see a crime being committed.
So, let me get this straight:
2. Selling ads == money laundering.
3. He's not violating tax laws, yet the IRS is still involved.
4. Purchasing email services from a US provider somehow makes you subject to all laws of the United States?
You're really grasping at straws, here.
As for 1...I agree that his service enabled users of that service to infringe on the copyrights of US entities, but are those copyrights valid in Poland or Ukraine? Do the laws of those countries spell out the punishment for copyright infringement of foreign copyrights? Why isn't he being punished under the laws of either his country of citizenship or residency, then? Masterminding a bank robbery != running a torrent tracker. In that case, there's an actual law being violated in the country where the law exists. Running a website is hardly bank robbery.
Multiple accounts with new advertisers going into a new account each quarter that he doesn't touch the funds of for 2 years. At the end of the two years they get folded into one of his primary accounts, of which he'd want at least 3. Any legit pocket money purchases like fucking iTunes come out of a sub-$5000 account.
Does that period of time, 2 years, have any basis? Or is it just a period you think would be long enough to let the money cool off?
(||) Nehmo (||)
He was a complete nerd and had to look up "money laundering" in a dictionary.
There's a coin laundry right by my house! I can't believe this goes on right in front of everybody!
(||) Nehmo (||)
More seriously, he made a large number of enormous mistakes, here are the biggest:
1. Looks like his real name was on the goddamn hosting for KAT. Perfect job for an anonymous shell company held by a Russian lawyer, but instead he left a business card on a neat little stand at the crime scene.
2. Not separating his real name completely from his identity as KAT admin OR his casual pseudonym. He should've created a completely new identity for the KAT admin that doesn't touch any others with a 30-foot pole.
3. Apparently he thought Canada was a good place to host the servers safe from the reach of US lawmen. Such a US-unfriendly place this is, that he felt confident storing incriminating info on the server for some reason.
4. Insufficient money laundering. He even could've accepted ad payments in Bitcoin. Really, he put less effort into laundering criminal proceeds than your average 1%er puts into not paying taxes.
5. Being on Facebook never helps.
In short, he was running this operation almost completely in the open, relying only on the assumption that he couldn't be extradited and the obfuscation of naming the company Cryptoneat instead of KickassTorrents Inc. to keep his ass out of prison. Ross "You'll take payment in Bitcoin without a second thought, Mr. Mob Boss? Seems Legit." Ulbricht looks like a genius in comparison.
So, his real sin was being ignorant. Remember that, gang. Do your crimes in such a way so that you won't be embarased on /. post arrest.
(||) Nehmo (||)
They used to remove content when receiving DMCA letters from supposed copyright holders, just like google.
It seems (to me) that the reason why he was not hiding much is that he was complying with DMCA.
This means that:
1. the Department of Homeland Security is part of the copyright police, as is the IRS (these are new for me - used to think it was just the FBI);
2. complying with the DMCA won't save you from trouble;
3. they will make up charges to get you extradited and harsher punishment (money laundering???)