KickAssTorrents: popular torrenting site taken off old domain and moved to new site
Site was previously hosted at Somalian domain KickAss.so, but has been kicked off
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.KickAssTorrents, the world’s most popular torrenting site, has had the Somalian domain that powered it seized and has been forced to change its address.
The site’s original address at KickAss.so, based in Somalia, now shows a message saying that the site has been banned. Instead it has moved to its old home at KickAss.to, according to torrenting news site TorrentFreak.
KickAssTorrents has been a popular target for copyright holders since it became one of the biggest torrent trackers — a directory that allows people to download files.
The site is the most popular torrenting site by some way, according to TorrentFreak’s listing of the most-used pages.
The team behind the site had expected the Somalian domain to be a relatively safe haven, but the address has been seized by the registry that looks after sites ending in .so. It is likely that happened after complaints from copyright holders, though that is not yet confirmed.
Requesting addresses to be taken down is a common tactic of rightsholders looking to stop torrenting, but tends only to mean that the site moves to another, similar address.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments