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11-28-2010, 08:08 PM
A federal crackdown that shut more than 70 websites last week is the latest sign of an escalating war against counterfeit and pirated products, using legal tactics that may be closely scrutinized by civil-liberties groups.
Domain names of the affected sites—which offered such diverse goods as scarves, golf gear and rap music—were seized by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, part of the Department of Homeland Security, under court-approved warrants.
Owners of copyrights and trademarks commonly use civil procedures to try to stop sales of disputed goods on the Web. A law called the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, for example, established a procedure under which site owners are required to take down pirated media—such as videos and music—after being notified by the copyright holder. But the rapid proliferation of sites selling pirated goods—many of them from outside the U.S.—has made that process unworkable, some U.S. companies and trade groups say.
Access thousands of business sources not available on the free web.
ICE's latest crackdown is based on procedures used in criminal cases, including seizing domains and assets of suspect websites without prior notification of their owners, lawyers tracking the case said.
"It's time to stop playing games," said Chris Castle, a Los Angeles attorney who has
represented copyright holders as well as technology companies involved in digital music.
Mr. Castle said the ICE's crackdown has been supported not only by businesses, but also by major labor unions, who say that sales of counterfeit and pirated goods can cost U.S. jobs. He added that judges routinely grant warrants allowing authorities to seize assets of suspected criminals, once law-enforcement officials have presented evidence to support the action.
Peter Harvey, a San Francisco lawyer who has represented record labels and worked for an association of trademark holders, pointed to one justification for seizing domain names without advance warning—the possibility that website owners could post a notice telling visitors of other sites to visit to buy pirated goods. While the ICE move could raise questions about legal due process, he said, it reflects the frustrations of companies and government officials scrambling to cope with the magnitude of the Internet piracy problem.
"I think the law is chasing the technology right now," Mr. Harvey said.
In June, ICE seized the domain names of nine websites accused of letting users watch streamed versions of first-run movies. An ICE spokeswoman on Friday confirmed that the agency had executed court-ordered seizure warrants last week against a number of domain names, but declined to elaborate.
Seizing a website's domain name blocks users from visiting it, directing their queries elsewhere on the Web. There are several ways to make such seizures; the government hasn't disclosed which techniques it used in this case.
One person affected by the crackdown is Waleed GadElKareem, of Alexandria, Egypt, who ran a site called Torrent-Finder—one of many sites that have sprung up due to the popularity of a file-distribution technology pioneered by BitTorrent Inc. He said he was given no advance notice of the seizure of his domain by the U.S. government or his Web-hosting company, and added that his business wasn't doing anything wrong.
"It's a very strange situation," said Mr. GadElKareem, adding that he has been given no way to contact government officials on the matter. "I was left alone."
Peter Eckersley, senior staff technologist at the San Francisco-based Electronic Frontier Foundation, said Friday that his group had "a lot of concerns" about authorities seizing Internet domain names without prior notice. The civil-liberties organization has been lobbying against a proposed law known as COICA—the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act—that would give the government additional powers to move against sites involved in copyright infringement, even if they weren't located in the U.S.
The latest moves were reported earlier by online publications, including TorrentFreak, which on Thursday reported that ICE agents had raided facilities run by a file-sharing site called RapGodFathers that is dedicated to rap and hip-hop music.
But many more sites dedicated to selling physical goods appear to have been affected by the ICE action. Sites showing ICE seizure notices Friday included mygolfwholesale.com, silkscarf-shop.com, sunglasses-mall.com and usaoutlets.net. They couldn't be reached for comment.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703785704575643151792876866.html?m od=googlenews_wsj
Looks like the government is getting pretty serious about this now. I did a couple of tests on the websites that the articles talked about.. It's true.
The emblems look pretty epic though.
http://torrent-finder.com/
http://usaoutlets.net/
http://dvdcollectionsale.com/
Domain names of the affected sites—which offered such diverse goods as scarves, golf gear and rap music—were seized by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, part of the Department of Homeland Security, under court-approved warrants.
Owners of copyrights and trademarks commonly use civil procedures to try to stop sales of disputed goods on the Web. A law called the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, for example, established a procedure under which site owners are required to take down pirated media—such as videos and music—after being notified by the copyright holder. But the rapid proliferation of sites selling pirated goods—many of them from outside the U.S.—has made that process unworkable, some U.S. companies and trade groups say.
Access thousands of business sources not available on the free web.
ICE's latest crackdown is based on procedures used in criminal cases, including seizing domains and assets of suspect websites without prior notification of their owners, lawyers tracking the case said.
"It's time to stop playing games," said Chris Castle, a Los Angeles attorney who has
represented copyright holders as well as technology companies involved in digital music.
Mr. Castle said the ICE's crackdown has been supported not only by businesses, but also by major labor unions, who say that sales of counterfeit and pirated goods can cost U.S. jobs. He added that judges routinely grant warrants allowing authorities to seize assets of suspected criminals, once law-enforcement officials have presented evidence to support the action.
Peter Harvey, a San Francisco lawyer who has represented record labels and worked for an association of trademark holders, pointed to one justification for seizing domain names without advance warning—the possibility that website owners could post a notice telling visitors of other sites to visit to buy pirated goods. While the ICE move could raise questions about legal due process, he said, it reflects the frustrations of companies and government officials scrambling to cope with the magnitude of the Internet piracy problem.
"I think the law is chasing the technology right now," Mr. Harvey said.
In June, ICE seized the domain names of nine websites accused of letting users watch streamed versions of first-run movies. An ICE spokeswoman on Friday confirmed that the agency had executed court-ordered seizure warrants last week against a number of domain names, but declined to elaborate.
Seizing a website's domain name blocks users from visiting it, directing their queries elsewhere on the Web. There are several ways to make such seizures; the government hasn't disclosed which techniques it used in this case.
One person affected by the crackdown is Waleed GadElKareem, of Alexandria, Egypt, who ran a site called Torrent-Finder—one of many sites that have sprung up due to the popularity of a file-distribution technology pioneered by BitTorrent Inc. He said he was given no advance notice of the seizure of his domain by the U.S. government or his Web-hosting company, and added that his business wasn't doing anything wrong.
"It's a very strange situation," said Mr. GadElKareem, adding that he has been given no way to contact government officials on the matter. "I was left alone."
Peter Eckersley, senior staff technologist at the San Francisco-based Electronic Frontier Foundation, said Friday that his group had "a lot of concerns" about authorities seizing Internet domain names without prior notice. The civil-liberties organization has been lobbying against a proposed law known as COICA—the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act—that would give the government additional powers to move against sites involved in copyright infringement, even if they weren't located in the U.S.
The latest moves were reported earlier by online publications, including TorrentFreak, which on Thursday reported that ICE agents had raided facilities run by a file-sharing site called RapGodFathers that is dedicated to rap and hip-hop music.
But many more sites dedicated to selling physical goods appear to have been affected by the ICE action. Sites showing ICE seizure notices Friday included mygolfwholesale.com, silkscarf-shop.com, sunglasses-mall.com and usaoutlets.net. They couldn't be reached for comment.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703785704575643151792876866.html?m od=googlenews_wsj
Looks like the government is getting pretty serious about this now. I did a couple of tests on the websites that the articles talked about.. It's true.
The emblems look pretty epic though.
http://torrent-finder.com/
http://usaoutlets.net/
http://dvdcollectionsale.com/