MANILA, Philippines — Filipinos who get their fix of TV shows and movies from their run-of-the-mill torrent directories would be surprised that some of these sites have recently migrated to a domain extension much closer to home.

The move was initiated by KickAssTorrents in 2011, with its move to a kat.ph domain around April. Just recently, popular torrent site Demonoid followed suit, as it redirected its .com domain to a Demonoid.ph one this April.

But what do these domain movements mean? Does it mean that these torrent sites have established operations in the Philippines?

Not necessarily, according to information security and cybercrime expert Drexx Laggui. The situation is actually far more complex, and highlights the complicated web with which domain governance and Internet laws in the country are currently tangled in.

The recent domain migrations actually stem from intensified efforts by US Federal agencies to

Article source: http://www.interaksyon.com/article/32122/torrent-sites-exploit-weak-laws-enforcement-in-move-to--ph-domain