14 DAY TRIAL // Kickass Torrents, the Internet's biggest torrents portal, has started its own release group, which will be known from now on as KATRG (Kickass Torrents Release Group).
If you're unfamiliar with the term, in online piracy circles, a release group is a team of people who search, package, re-encode, and seed pirated content. In most cases, this consists of movies.
Some of the most known release groups around are YIFY, which has recently shut down operations after the MPAA discovered its main operator; RARBG, the source of most content on the RARBG.to torrent portal; ETRG, the release group behind the ExtraTorrent website; and aXX0, the group that activated from 2005 to 2009.
Release groups can be the source of pirated content, but not necessarily. There were cases where release groups took already existing movies, re-encoded the video files, and plastered their names on top of the release. Most known for this is YIFY, probably the biggest release group to this point, reaching cult status for most Internet users.
KATRG is headed by a famous encoder
As TorrentFreak reports, this seems to be the same strategy KATRG is adopting, taking already existing movie releases, re-encoding their content, and uploading them to the Kickass Torrents website.
KATRG has only 20 uploaded torrents until now, and seems to be operating from an account registered three years ago.
Kickass Torrents admin, Mr. Black, says the group is led by a well-known encoder, who will remain anonymous.
This proves the torrent portal has a plan to assure a constant stream of new movie releases on its site, to cover a void the MPAA created after it managed to shut down YIFY's operations at the start of November this year.
Right now, KATRG has already got its hands on the latest Oscar DVD screeners that leaked online, but it is also seeding some high-quality Blu-Ray releases. The group may seem slow and sluggish for now, but chances are that it will become one of the major players in online piracy in the next months, as their releases spread to other torrent sites thanks to KAT's popularity.