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How a Few iTunes Purchases Helped Nab an Alleged Online Piracy Mastermind

How a Few iTunes Purchases Helped Nab an Alleged Online Piracy Mastermind 6w2h4p

By Andrea Peterson, The Washington Post | Updated: 22 July 2016 18:14 IST

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Artem Vaulin is accused of being the mastermind behind the most popular illegal file-sharing site in the world, KickassTorrents, which US authorities say helped distribute over a billion dollars worth of pirated movies and music.

Yet despite allegedly making a living from helping people steal copyrighted material, the 30-year-old Ukrainian seems to have bought movies and music legally on iTunes - and some of those purchases ultimately helped investigators track him down, according to a criminal complaint lodged against him in federal court. 3b4y5a

Investigators were able to use details about Facebook, the complaint alleges. They also found emails about the illegal-filing sharing site's operations in the inbox of the he allegedly used to make the iTunes purchases. Even that email address itself, [email protected], seemed to be a tip off: "Tirm" was a pseudonym once listed as an on the piracy site.

Although most people probably recall Apple's heated legal fight with the FBI over encryption, the company routinely assists law enforcement in criminal investigations when served with subpoenas or warrants. In the FBI conflict, the company protested because the authorities wanted the company to break its own security measures built into the iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino terrorists - a move that would impact all of the firm's smartphones.

Pirate Bay, it served as a hub for links s could use to them.

The site was hugely popular: Some 50 million people visited it each month and it ranked as the 69th most popular site on the entire internet, according to the criminal complaint. And that traffic translated into massive profits: Investigators estimate the site earned between $12.5 million and $22.3 million from online advertising.

Vaulin, who was arrested Wednesday in Poland, is facing multiple criminal charges, including copyright infringement and money laundering, that could land him in prison for decades.

The iTunes purchases appear to be just part of a massive trove of evidence against Vaulin uncovered by investigators. But there's still something deeply ironic about legal media purchases contributing to the downfall of a man accused of running a sprawling online piracy empire.

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