Money Matters, Simplified.
US shuts down sites offering pirated and counterfeit goods
by Anter Prakash Singh - November 29, 2010 - comments
The DMCA allows websites to go scot-free if they remove the copyright infringing content after being notified.
After cracking down websites offering pirated movies, the U.S. authorities are now targeting dozens of websites providing links to pirated music and counterfeit products like watches and sports goods.
Such sites have been shutdown by the U.S. authorities.
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) which is a part of Department of Homeland Security, said, “It had executed court ordered seizure warrants against a number of domain names.”
The shutdown comes at a time when the government is in the process of passing a bill titled Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act, (COICA) which has already been passed by the Judiciary Committee of the Senate.
The spokesperson of ICE, Cori Bassett, refused to provide further details because of ‘ongoing investigation’ but Torrent Freak, a website reporting the latest news on the BitTorrent protocol and file sharing, has given a list of 70 websites that have been blocked.
Sites offering pirated or counterfeit stuff blocked
The list includes cheapscarfshop.com, handbagcom.com, dvdcollectionsale.com, mydreamwatches.com, rapgodfathers.com, sunglasses-mail.com and usaoutlets.com among others.
The visitors to these sites are being greeted with a message, “this site has been seized by ICE- Homeland Security Investigations, pursuant to a seizure warrant issued by a United States District Court.”
The department also informs visitors that the copyright infringement is federal crime and could result in sentence of jail up to 5 years and carries a fine of $250,000. It also states that dealing in counterfeit goods carries jail term up to 10 years and fine of 2 million dollars.
Bill empowering government against piracy pending
The shutdown comes at a time when the government is in the process of passing a bill titled Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act, (COICA) which has already been passed by the Judiciary Committee of the Senate.
If passed, the bill would allow government to suspend a website’s domain if it is found ‘dedicated to infringement’. Some experts are saying that the bill could be in conflict with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).
The DMCA allows websites to go scot-free if they remove the copyright infringing content after being notified.
Senate will vote on the bill in the coming session.
DHA accused of acting without prior notice
This time the Department of Homeland Security is seizing sites and it is not doing it under the auspices of the DMCA or COICA. In fact, it has ‘executed court orders.’
The sites have been blocked without notifying their owners.
Torrent-Finder.com owner said the site was blocked, “without any previous complaint or notice from any court........While I was contacting GoDaddy, I noticed the DNS had changed. GoDaddy had no idea what was going on and until now they do not understand the situation, and they say it was totally from ICANN.”