Posted on 11/27/2010 7:15:22 AM PST by GreaterSwiss
The investigative arm of the Homeland Security Department appears to be shutting down websites that facilitate copyright infringement.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has seized dozens of domain names over the past few days, according to TorrentFreak.
ICE appears to be targeting sites that help Internet users download copyrighted music, as well as sites that sell bootleg goods, such as fake designer handbags.
The sites are replaced with a note from the government: "This domain named has been seized by ICE, Homeland Security Investigations."
For instance, 2009jersey.com, 51607.com, and amoyhy.com have each been seized.
One of the site owners told TorrentFreak that his site was shut down without any notice or warning.
The effort come as Congress considers the Combatting Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA). Critics, including Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) say it is too heavy-handed. He has vowed to put a formal hold on the bill.
When the seizure notice comes up as you log in to FR? How about Rush?...Oh...I know...Michele Malkin.
“The system worked.” (We shut off those bootleg Rolling Stones tapes.)
They already have laws on the books to effectively do so. Do you think they didn’t include language in any of those 5,000 page bills they passed to do so? Once the dictatorship is in place and uses arbitrary power we won’t need all those “legislators” who voted for all this crap.
Historically speaking, most copyright and trademark infringement has involved imported merchandise. Therefore, enforcement of the copyright and trademark laws became a major part of the responsibilities of the U. S. Customs Service.
For example, "bootleg" or "pirate" tapes and CD's imported from Asia used to be one of the major types of copyright infringement. Customs agents had to be constantly on the lookout for this sort of material at our ports of entry.
Nowadays, most copyright infringement probably involves music and video downloads over the Internet. Some of this activity crosses national borders, some is purely inside the USA. But since it's almost impossible to distinguish "imported" vs. "domestic" downloads, I guess the job of enforcement just goes by default to ICE.
(In the meantime, our friendly neighborhood ICE agents still have to stay on the job of protecting us from the danger of fake Rolexes made in Hong Kong and fake Gucci bags made in Timbuktu!)
And gun sales keep going through the roof...wonder why?
And to all those who like to give us their famous: “We’re falling right into their trap by advocating an uprising” drivel. Please, STFU already! All we’ve done to merit this response was our vote on November 2nd, and LOL at Obama getting cracked in his purple lips!
Seizing property without a court order. Getting molested by TSA agents.
We don't need no stinkin' Constitution.
I do wonder what the tipping point will be.
5.56mm
This country is feeling more like China every day. What's the tipping point? I'm not sure there will be a tipping point since we've allowed the government to trample the Constitution for far too long. Not one bit of it hasn't been trampled by Congress or the courts. The Constitution has been little more than a door mat for decades.
This country will continue tipping until all is lost because too much of the general populous is ignorant and blind and no one has the guts to admit that fixing it is way past the ballot box solution.
They seized the domain name used in the DNS servers. That is just a “translator” to the actual IP address. So as long as the IP address isn’t changed, you could still go to the sites by typing in the IP address. Or you could add the Ip address with the domain name to your HOST file and you would never know the difference.
It has been seized.
shutting down websites that facilitate copyright infringementOh no! Does the include "www.copyrightinfringementfacilitators.com"?!?
“I do wonder what the tipping point will be.”
Think about frogs in a pot of gradually warming water....
That point is long past. Ask yourself, "what would happen if Fox News or FreeRepublic got yanked in the next 5 minutes?" The answer, sadly, is nothing that could bring them back. Lots of Congressional "investigations" and one or two editorials in the MSM, then just the sound of crickets...
This has been going on for a while now:
Feds shut down nine websites in movie piracy crackdown
The sites had made pirated versions of ‘Toy Story 3’ and ‘Iron Man 2’ available within hours of their release in theaters. The crackdown is part of a renewed effort to curb film and TV piracy online.
July 01, 2010|By Richard Verrier, Los Angeles Times
Adding some swashbuckling to its tough talk on fighting piracy, the federal government on Wednesday seized several websites that had offered downloads of pirated movies such as “Toy Story 3” and “Iron Man 2” within hours of their release in theaters.
Federal authorities announced that they had seized domain names from nine websites engaged in the “criminal theft of American movies and television.” The websites include TVShack.net, PlanetMoviez.com, ThePirateCity.org and Ninjavideo.net. Combined, the sites drew 6.7 million visitors a month, authorities said.
Officials also seized assets from 15 bank, investment and advertising accounts and executed residential search warrants in North Carolina, New York, New Jersey and Washington, according to a statement from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which coordinated its investigation with the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, the Department of Homeland Security and other agencies.
The crackdown, which involved 100 agents working in 11 states and the Netherlands, was part of a renewed campaign dubbed Operation in Our Sites by federal authorities to curb Internet counterfeiting and piracy. The announcement comes a week after the Obama administration unveiled a detailed plan on how to tackle global piracy, including targeting illegal websites.
ICE chief John Morton, speaking at a Walt Disney Studios sound stage where he was joined by movie studio executives and union representatives, trumpeted the bust as the beginning of a “long-term effort to turn the tables on these thieves.” The targeted websites, he added, are “run by people who have no respect for creativity and innovation.”
The studios say they lose hundreds of millions annually to piracy.
Preet Bharara, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement that the actions were necessary to protect the jobs and livelihoods of “ordinary working people” and warned others engaged in similar websites.
“If your business model is piracy, your story will not have a happy ending,” Bharara said.
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jul/01/business/la-fi-ct-piracy-20100701
ICE Operation in Our Sites
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqGziXOPO2A
For instance, 2009jersey.com, 51607.com, and amoyhy.com have each been seized.
I just went to "2009jersey.com" and everything looked a normal site...
We all know that is the final objective.....
ICE needs to focus on their core mission: protecting our country against invasion through our open borders. This is just an excuse to begin seizing any website that contains political speech contrary to the progressive marxist administration.
Hmmm, wonder if this has anything to do with all of those Micrsoft downloads I keep getting when I sut my computer down? ;)
Seriously, I used to get those every so often, now, everytime i shut my computer down, I get one of those MS downloads (”please do not shut down your computer off until download is complete” or something like that...?
Hmmmm...?
We need to start demanding that our representatives in Congress impeach this impostor.
What about ebay? I guess they need to shut them down as well.
Me too.
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