Kickass Torrents was one of the most well-known torrenting websites on the internet until its founder, Artem Vaulin, was arrested and charged with multiple crimes by the US Department of Justice in 2016. It didn't take long after that for the original Kickass Torrents (KAT) site to be shut down as well. Visitors to the original Kickass Torrents website encountered an ominous message for a long time after.