Kickass Torrents or KAT to its bootlegging friends had a rude and nasty shock recently when they came up against Kabali starring Rajini Sir – the original ass-kicker, beater-up of baddies and purveyor of all things heroic. While the “most visited illegal file-sharing website” known for “unlawfully distributing”, may have no connection at all with the release of Kabali, Rajini fans think it is certainly more than a mere coincidence. It fact, they think it is nothing less than the piracy website getting its just comeuppance at the hands of reigning deity of Indian cinema; the omniscient, omnipotent Rajini!
What did Kickass Torrents and Artem Vaulin “Trim” do?
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Kickass torrents is like dozens of other peer to peer fire sharing websites that let net users download copyrighted content without paying for it. Basically, it puts you in touch with others who have the content you want; which you then download from them. The history of peer to peer file sharing is long; the authorities and record companies have long tried to contain and punish those who do it. First it was Napster who was shut down over 15 years ago, and then Limewire was shut down. It was argued that these services did not deal in copyright infringement themselves; they simply facilitated sharers getting in touch with each other. But they were shut down anyway.
You could argue the same for Kickass Torrents, PirateBay, TorrentHound, Monova, SeedPeer, TorrentFunk and dozens of others as well, but Kickass Torrents met an early demise this last Wednesday. Operating since 2008, the site was shut down when the US Justice Department detained Artem Vaulin the site’s founder in Poland. They will be seeking extradition as well so he can undergo trial for being the owner of a website that unlawfully distributed over a billion dollars worth of copyrighted materials.
The “Thalaiva Effect?”
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If you’re wondering what the connection is between illegal file sharing and India’s megastar, it is this: A bootlegged version of Kabali was leaked online according to some. According to the fans of Rajini aka Thalaiva aka The Boss, the shutting down of Kickass Torrents and the arrest of its owner was because of this illegal leak. It was the wrath of the boss let loose on the recalcitrant mortal! Could it have been? Logically no, because the arrest happened on Wednesday, the movie released yesterday and there was no copy leaked beforehand.
The fact that you see this when looking for a Kabali bootleg download: Your requested URL has been blocked as per the directions received from Department of Telecommunications, Government of India. Please contact administrator for more information…. has nothing to do with the telecom dept; but everything to do with the Thaliava Effect if you’re a Rajini fan!
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The two are clearly not connected, but try telling these guys to be logical: the guys who bathed Rajini’s poster with milk, flew across states and countries for the premier, performed pooja, who (probably) did everything including but not limited to selling blood to buy tickets.
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The guys who wrapped their cars with posters.
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Got their number plates changed
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Had special designer sarees made and basically did anything for that ticket… try telling them that it was a mere coincidence.
They won’t believe you!
Author – Reena Daruwalla
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