Protecting American business is the true business of America.
The Homeland Security Department’s customs enforcement division has gone on a Web site shutdown spree, closing down at least 76 domains this week, according to online reports.
While many of the web domains were sites that trafficked in counterfeit brand name goods, and some others linked to copyright-infringing file-sharing materials, at least one site was a Google-like search engine, causing alarm among web freedom advocates who worry the move steps over the line into censorship.
All the shut sites are now displaying a Homeland Security warning that copyright infringers can face up to five years in prison.
[...]
Homeland Security’s ability to shut down sites without a court order evidently comes from the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, a Clinton-era law that allows Web sites to be closed on the basis of a copyright complaint. Critics have long assailed the DMCA for being too broad, as complainants don’t need to prove copyright infringement before a site can be taken down.News of the shutdowns has some observers wondering whether the US really needs COICA, the anti-counterfeiting bill that passed through a Senate committee with unanimous approval last week. That bill would allow the federal government to block access to Web sites that attorneys general deem to have infringed on copyright.
In a vaguely unrelated story, a poll shows a huge percentage of Americans no longer feel the US Government operates the way the Founding Fathers intended.
UPDATE: Even though this story was played high in the NYT and elsewhere, I’d advise you read this info on a hackers site suggesting we are witnessing an elaborate hoax. — JCD
How does homeland security raise money?
“Well is like this see… If you want to keep up an internet presence you gotta make some, uh, ‘donations’…”
DHS is in the enviable position of being a government sanctioned home for cretins, pornophiles, financial and other kinds of hitmen.
Did you enjoy living in a democracy? ‘Cause its over baby…
#18 Ribbed?!!
# 17 Yossarian said, “Last time I checked, which was right before I wrote this, a majority was *more than half*.”
Maybe you should check again – a better source. A majority can also mean most or more than any other subset.
On this case the set is 100%
44% believe the gov overreaches
39% believe the gov is within the Constitution
17% believe something else or did not respond
Therefore, the majority of this set believe the gov oversteps the boundaries established by the Constitution.
For you math majors out there, yes, I have oversimplified but Yossarian needed a simple answer.
We have definitely come around to the Obama ideal:
A goverment OF the Corporations
BY the Corporations and
FOR the Corporations
Soon we’ll all owe our souls to the Obama goverment store.
I am the master of my domain!
Copyright infringement places the nation at risk? Why is the DHS involved. Seems like they are expanding their role. Big Sis is replacing Big Brother.
“Wonder how long it is until they shut down WikiLeaks.”
Yes, that is most interesting. Makes one wonder about the true nature of these “leaks”.
And I though Bush as bad.
I had called Obama “Bush Lite”
I was wrong. Bush was simply to opening act to the main event.
Who would of thought that “Change we can believe in” was CHANGING FROM 1ST GEAR TO 4TH IN THE WRONG DIRECTION!
I don’t consider rawstory to be a reliable source for information. However, assuming this is all in fact true, lets not forget that the DHS can’t operate without funding.
Congress approves appropriations before the president. Democrats have been in control of the Senate and the House since Jan ’07. Bush and Obama cannot be blamed for supporting DHS without also blaming Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid.
Let’s just call them all (Democrats and Republicans) enablers for a power drunk executive branch.
This will put a HUGE dent in Al Qaeda’s operations. No longer can terrorists who have infiltrated the USA successfully download Justin Bieber’s Grammy Winning album “My World 2.0″, which absolutely destroys their willingness to attack us.
Interestingly, torrent-finder.com ‘s participation in this appears to be a hoax.
http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/101127-141627
Torrent sites were taken down over the past few days – but Torrent Finder took their own site down and placed a copy of the notice the government was posting on the real sites they seized.
While the story made people aware of the seizures of torrent and merchandise knockoff sites, by associating their search site with results at Google and Bing and other search engines Torrent Finder were able to become the site everyone was looking at.
The story in Torrent Freak seems to be the story that had the most information from Torrent Finder – quoting its owner that they were not served a warrant but discovered through their host, GoDaddy, that the action was done by ICANN.
Read the whole blog post.
Anyone have a list of the sites?
What does home land security have to do with piracy? They like to make the association that piracy in some way supports terrorists financially.
The problem with this logic is that people don’t pay to pirate things. That’s the whole point of piracy is to get stuff for free. So how EXACTLY is anyone making money from piracy?
Terrorists are more likely to make money creating their own music and selling it on iTunes, or on amazon.
This is one site that I’m amazed hasn’t been shut down:
http://5z8.info/oneweirdoldtiptolosebellyfat_r8y2e__init_download
At least 2 of the sites have posted a statement on MTV’s site about being taken down by the feds:
http://tinyurl.com/24unssg
#36 – can’t argue with that one. I hate Rap music too!
Give a stupid policeperson with little frame of reference a computer with the internet and watch out
I don’t know who is worse ICE or the Canadian Border guards
Give a moron a bit of power and they still are….
I’d seen that on tvshack.net – a web-site which allowed you to watch TV shows and movies (including movies just released in theaters) – so a clear violation of copyright and DMCA.
I don’t see how seizing the domain name does anything – I’m sure they simply starting using a different domain name and server 5 minutes later.
Not sure what is going on but I hit this story elsewhere. If true very bad.