KickassTorrents plans to move to .cr after its .im domain was suspended just within 24 hrs that KickAss had moved to it
The Isle of Man Registry has canceled the new domain name of KickassTorrents in less than 24 hours after the site moved over. The popular torrent site will now move to the Costa Rica based domain name, Kat.cr., continuing the domain shuffle.
Various anti-piracy groups have been keeping a check on the site’s movements from the time KickassTorrents (KAT) became the most visited torrent site on the Internet.
Therefore, in all likelihood, several copyright holders jumped into action the moment the KAT team announced a change to the new KickassTorrents.im domain yesterday.
The new domain belongs to the Isle of Man authorities and was not the perfect choice for the torrent site since the local registry has a “zero tolerance” policy towards copyright violation.
The domain was removed within a few hours following the switch, compelling the KAT team to make a new move, this time to the Costa Rican .cr TLD.
KAT admin Mr. Pink informed TF that “We have been seized by the Isle of Man domain registry. The new domain will be Kat.cr.”, adding that the new kat.cr domain is likely to go live soon.
The IM Registry confirmed that the site violated its terms; however, it is still not clear if any copyright holder group or groups have filed an official complaint.
“The domain was in breach of the .im rules and has accordingly been revoked. I cannot correspond any further in relation to this domain name,” an IM registry spokesperson tells TF.
The KAT team was not completely unaware and has several domain names on hold just in case they need it. And so the Whac-a-Mole continues for now, until the site lands in a safe port.
While the Isle of Man registry was fast to take action, others including the Icelandic .IS and the Swedish .SE registry will not change any domain names without a court order.
TF tried to contact the .CR registry to find out what their policies are regarding domain name cancellations, however, they were yet to reply at the time of publication.
For now kickassTorrents can be accessed by its old domain
