KickAssTorrents down: biggest file-sharing site moves to .cr domain after takedowns

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The world’s biggest file-sharing site KickAssTorrents has moved to a new Costa Rican domain, as it jumps around the world in an attempt to outrun copyright holders.

The site announced late last week that it had moved to an Isle of Man domain, but was swiftly taken down. It is now moving its site to Kat.cr, a new Costa Rican site.

That website appears to be working already, though it is loading slowly and often showing only text.

The Costa Rican domain is thought to be one of several domain names that the team was sitting on in case one of its active ones are taken down.

The site was forced to move when its Isle of Man domain, KickAssTorrents.im, was taken down by the company that runs the Isle of Man web addresses.

"We as the IM Domain Registry wish to make it very clear that we do not tolerate copyright infringement and withdrew the domain name from service," a representative said in an email to The Independent on Friday, hours after the high-profile launch of the site.

KickAssTorrents has moved to various different domain names, from around the world, in an attempt to stay online as it is pursued by copyright holders. When the domains are seized, the group behind the site is able to simply move the site to a different place, keeping all of the files that it is made up of intact.