Alleged KickAss Torrents operator hires Kim Dotcom’s lawyer

Image: Ira Rothken and Kim Dotcom
Source:Twitter

Ira Rothken, the US lawyer who has kept Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom from being extradited to the US since 2012, hopes to do the same for the alleged operator of the world’s biggestpiracysite.

Artem Vaulin was arrested in Poland last week as part of a sting against notorious pirate site Kickass Torrents. US officials seized its domain names and charged Vaulin with conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement, to commit money laundering and criminal copyright infringement. US officials want him extradited to face the charges.

Now, Vaulin has hired Dotcom’s attorney Ira Rothken from Warsaw jail. While Rothken told media he’s yet to speak with Vaulin directly (he’s currently relaying messages through Vaulin’s Polish counsel, Katarzyna Dąbrowska), he plans to employ the same tactics to free Vaulin of the charges.

During Dotcom’s ongoing legal battle over alleged copyright violation through file-sharing site Megaupload, and charges of money laundering and conspiracy, Rothken has maintained no crime had been committed.

In an interview with Ars Technica, the attorney said Kickass Torrents is similar to a simple search engine, and therefore can’t be held accountable for copyright infringement.

“It is a glorified set of hyperlinks, very much like you would get from a search engine like Google,” Rothken told Ars Technica. “This case of KickassTorrents, we’re not able to find any cases, especially criminal cases, where a hyperlink was considered direct willful infringement. We believe that the US case here is without merit and ultimately the folks involved with that will win as a matter of law.”

Rothken said secondary copyright infringement, which he believes applies to Vaulin’s case, does not exist in Poland or the US.

“We think that if a dual criminality analysis ever gets done, an extradition would have to be rejected.”

Kickass Torrents is among eight offshore proxy sitesinvolved in legal proceedings with the Australian music industry. The case, which is being lead by Music Rights Australia on behalf ofthe three major labels, along with Alberts and APRA AMCOS, is set down for a two-day hearing on 25 and 26 October.

A statement by the US Department of Justice following Vaulin’s arrest estimated US$1 billion in revenue has been lost in the entertainment industry due to the operation of KickAss Torrents.

Conversely, Rothken told Ars Technica the case against Vaulin is an “attack, using the criminal laws, on BitTorrent technology generally.”

“The US is involved in experimental criminal litigation, and it’s designed to have a chilling effect on people using BitTorrent technology,” Rothken said. “If one were to go out and spider all the BitTorrent files they could find online and give a search engine, the same allegations could be made against that search engine, and we believe that’s improper use of the prosecutorial power. We believe that this case will ultimately be dismissed.”

Rothken has said he will travel to Poland in the coming days to meet Vaulin and hopes to have him released on bail.